Lucid Darkness
by VictorianPearl
Summary: AU Syaoran has been banished from his homeland to Tomoeda, land of mystics. What he finds there is nothing he expected, and the only way to get home is to help Sakura overthrow an evil that has been tormenting her for her entire life.
1. Lands of Darkness

VictorianPearl: My new AU fiction is finally here!

Syaoran: Starring me…mostly.

VictorianPearl: It may seem a little confusing at first, but everything will be explained to its full in time.

Syaoran: And don't forget, it's starring me!

Li: Ya, ya, we heard you the first time.

VictorianPearl: More comments will be at the end of the first chapter, enjoy.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 1 Lands of Darkness

It was a dark day; the whole village seemed to be a shade of grey. Then again, it always seemed to be dark these days. It was a wonder that anything ever grew.

Syaoran slowly made his way through the village. His soft padded boots made barely any sound against the stone flooring of the village streets. The grey stone seemed to make the place drearier than it already was.

Syaoran took a look around him, the stores and houses were randomly scattered throughout the inside walls of the Sparrow's Palace Capitol. The capitol itself was a smaller portion of the whole land of Yen, also known as Sparrow.

A light wind blew as Syaoran continued. He came from a house where he lived with his mother. It was the most pompous building, beside the palace, in the Sparrow's Palace Capitol. It was where he trained night and day. It was where his sisters lived before they were married, and where his father used to dwell.

The Sparrow's Palace was now looming into Syaoran's view. It was the place where that cursed ruler Wu lived. That black palace was only the beginning of his problems. Syaoran hated that place with a passion. It was almost ironic that he was making his way toward it now.

Passing wooden shops with closed windows was an ill omen at this time of day, something evil was about to transcend. Syaoran hardly believed in such thoughts, but he was a sorcerer, and _hardly_ did not mean not at all. In fact, everyone in this land was capable of some type of magic.

The streets were completely void of any living thing. The only living things Syaoran could see, if they were even considered alive, were the grey trees with decadent leaves. Their long, arm-like branches reached over houses and the capitol's walls. They seemed to be dead, yet always watchful.

Syaoran was almost to the Sparrow's Palace. He reminisced over what he was going to say. He had long decided to speak out against Wu. He was a psychotic and brutal leader. But those were not the only reasons Syaoran hated the man.

Wu would kill anyone he thought was a threat to his power. He was known for imprisoning loyal men who had "too much" power. He was a driven leader who relayed on false magic guidance.

Syaoran remembered when Wu killed all of the daughters in a family for one daughter's fault. The girl had been blackened by force; her body became as black as her soul. When Wu found this, all of the daughters were executed as a warning to others.

Sometimes, Syaoran wondered if his family was the only one whose hearts weren't completely poisoned. They had cold hearts, yes, but not black ones. Cold hearts could melt, but black hearts needed a stronger source of light.

Wu had also killed many healers. He had accused them of causing disease rather than healing the people of Yen. Syaoran knew the healers were innocent; they were merely people trying to do some good in the toxic of evil of the land. Wu's wrath had affected commoners and officials alike. He had recently gone as far as to have innocent children executed…murdered, in Syaoran's opinion.

Everyone was afraid of Wu; those who were not afraid were in league with him. All except Syaoran, he was the only one unafraid of the maniac on the black throne. He had a damn good reason not to be afraid too.

Syaoran closed his eyes and sucked in the thick air. He remembered how it all started, all of those years ago.

"Xiaolang, wave goodbye to father." Yelan said, one hand on her nine year old son's shoulder.

Syaoran lifted his left hand and waved furiously to his retreating father. His father's arm reached up and waved back to his family. He was leaving for war as commanding officer. Yen was on the verge of being breached. He would have to travel many miles to the land's eastern border to fight.

The Li family stood at the gate to their home. The large house they lived in was surrounded by lush green grass. They lived at the edge of the capitol where grass thrived. Syaoran's four crying sisters retreated into the house, but Syaoran and Yelan remained.

"Mama," Syaoran said, his eyes still on his father, "someday, I'm going to be a Black Bird in the armed forces and fight like father."

Yelan looked down at her son. "You are a little wolf Xiaolang. Someday you will be a grand warrior who will bring light."

"Like the starlight?" Syaoran asked.

Yelan smiled. "It will be brighter than that."

The two then followed the likeness of the four girls back into the house.

Syaoran had been training with his father since the age of four. He was good, but wanted to be as good, or even better than his father. He practiced all the time on the vast grass behind his house.

Once his father left for the war, Syaoran practiced with his pendant sword twice as often. It seemed to Yelan that he did it to overcome the loneliness rather than to become stronger.

A slow year passed and the army had still not returned from the war. A ten year old Syaoran was beginning to grow anxious. He had done a lot of studying over the past year as well training, and this gave him many ideas.

Not much longer after one year had passed, did they hear the sound of a knock at the door. An officer in uniform was standing in the doorway, but it was not father. He sadly told Yelan that her husband had died in battle.

Yelan collapsed against the doorframe. "No," she whispered, clutching the wood to keep herself up.

Syaoran went into shock; he ignored his sister's cries, everything in his world stopped turning. Father was gone and he wasn't coming back. Something in his head snapped and he darted out the door. He ignored his mother's cry of protest and kept running.

He didn't know how he ended up at the palace, but his feet took him straight there. Somehow, Syaoran felt that his father's death was connected to this place.

The next series of events were a blur for Syaoran. He ran into the palace. He had no idea how he managed to slip in past the guards or how his feet seemed to know where they were going. Syaoran had never been inside of the palace before.

Syaoran could feel his father's spirit leading him down the dark hallways and up the stairways. He came upon a room full of evil magic. He didn't like the feeling it gave him. It was too cold.

The room itself was indescribable. There were many shelves full of deep colored books, most covered with dust. There were many desks full of papers that held strange instruments on top of them. The walls were painted with skeletal figures that looked has if they were being hung.

In the wall was a humongous fireplace almost completely covered by the darkness. It was decorated with some type of black vine. The whole place sent shivers up Syaoran's spine.

Loud footsteps were heard echoing in the hallway. They were steadily coming closer and closer to the room. Syaoran looked for a hiding place. He dove into the first place he spotted, the fireplace.

He listened as the large double doors to the room opened. The footsteps entered before turning and closing the doors. They then walked over and settled comfortably in a chair.

Syaoran leaned forward a little to see who was sitting in the room. It was none other than Wu. Syaoran had only seen the man once or twice before, but he was hard to forget.

Wu was human-like and bird-like at the same time. His hands were shaped like claws as well as his feet. His cloak seemed to fall around him like feathers. Worst of all were his red eyes, they were in the shape of a bird's that is hunting its prey. Syaoran just hopped Wu couldn't see like a bird.

The double doors creaked open again. Syaoran recognized the Black Bird official that had been at his doorstep only a few moments ago. To Syaoran, those few moments seemed a lifetime ago.

"How did the news go over Hachiro?" Wu asked.

The man named Hachiro took a seat. "Well, the whole family's spirits are broken. Li's son took the news the worst."

Wu chuckled deeply. "Stupid little wolf, that child is more than he is worth. What of the rest of the family?"

"They were in tears." Hachiro replied. "I left them at the doorstep; I felt that I should get here quickly."

"Good man," Wu said, "I tell you, killing that Li was the best thing I ever did."

Syaoran froze. It was Wu's fault father was dead? He didn't die in battle? If anything, this fate was worse.

"Why _did_ you kill the Li?" Hachiro asked. "I don't doubt your actions, but wasn't he one of the best officers?"

"Too good for his own being," Wu slammed a fist onto his chair, causing Syaoran and Hachiro to jump. "He was at the top and rising. He was catching the people's attention more than I. Worst of all, he had _her_."

Syaoran's young brain was trying to process, all of this new information. Wu had been _jealous _of father?

"How did you do it?" Hachiro asked.

"I poisoned the bastard's wine." Wu said, the smile on his face evident in his voice.

Syaoran was filled with anger he could hardly contain. Not only had Wu killed his father, but he hadn't even done it honorably! He poisoned father without a chance of defense.

"So, what is this going to do to help the government?" Hachiro asked.

Wu smiled. "It's going to put me back into total power."

Tears leaked out of Syaoran's eyes. Father's death was unjust. It wasn't fair; father didn't even want any more power than what he already had. But something tagged at the back of Syaoran's mind.

_Worst of all, he had her._

"Come Hachiro," Wu said, getting up, "we have all of Yen to keep in order, let's get to business."

"Right sir," Hachiro said, getting up as well.

Syaoran waited until they had both left until he crawled out of his hiding place. His clothes and tear streaked face were covered with cinders. Had he really just heard that?

Angry and confused questions ran through Syaoran's brain. What would happen now? Could the Li family get revenge? What would he do? How did Wu not sense his aura?

The last question surprised Syaoran, but came back again. How was it that Wu did not sense him in the fireplace, even if he could not see him?

Syaoran felt a rush of his father's presence through him. That was it; his father had been keeping him safe. Had it also been his father who got him into the black palace? He didn't care; he now only wanted to get out.

OOO

Syaoran sighed again as he remembered telling his family about his discoveries. He had done endless hours of research on Wu's reign and his history of magic. He also researched his father's life, taking in as much information as possible.

Syaoran remembered how he suddenly noticed the way that Wu stared at his mother at social gatherings. Syaoran was surprised that he had never noticed it before. Now that he was looking for it though, it seemed very obvious.

Slowly over the span of the next eight years, Syaoran became more and more cold and distant to everyone with the exception of his family. He spent his time, now, either studying or training with his sword that his father gave him.

Now at the ripe age of eighteen, Syaoran walked up the steps of the Sparrow's Palace. He was carrying a few scrolls under his left arm. He had finally gathered as much information as possible. This would help him prove his point…hopefully.

Syaoran walked up to the front doors of the palace, there were two guards in front of the doors. He was right in front of the doors before two spears crossed in front of him.

"You cannot enter the palace." One of the guards said.

"Why not?" Syaoran asked.

"You do not have an appointment and have not been granted permission." The other guard replied.

"That is not my concern." Syaoran said.

He quickly dropped to the floor, supporting himself with one hand, and spun his leg under the guards' legs, causing them to fall backward. Syaoran stood quickly and burst through the doors, ignoring the soldiers' cries behind him. He walked down the center hall, past the staircases, and through the doors to the black throne.

"Settle guards," Wu said, smiling and holding up a hand, motioning for the guards to stop.

"You've gone too far Wu." Syaoran said, his voice echoing inside of the palace.

"Oh have I?" Wu asked mockingly.

Syaoran glared. "You've killed innocent people Wu. Your reign has brought nothing but grief and destruction. You've now moved to killing innocent children, and that's too far."

"Oh, but I didn't kill those children." Wu said sleekly. "I had my men do it for me."

"They didn't do anything to you; they hadn't done anything at all." Syaoran growled. He was having a difficult time keeping his temper, not that he was exactly trying to.

"Those children were infected with disease." Wu said bluntly. "I was doing Yen a favor."

"Wrong," Syaoran said, "they were full of hope and promise of change for the better. But that's something that you couldn't stand, just like my father."

Wu's eyes widened. "You've gone too far Li boy! This will mean certain punishment."

"You deserve more punishment than I for your crimes." Syaoran said, dropping his scrolls on the ground.

Wu stared at the scrolls, a scheme planning itself out inside of his mind.

"I'll tell you what boy. How would you like to be a recruited into the Black Birds? I would consider your service to Yen your way of paying your debt."

"Why?" Syaoran questioned. "So you can kill me like you did my father?"

"I did not kill your father, he died in battle." Wu said.

"Go to hell." Syaoran yelled, spitting upon the throne.

Wu's eyes came ablaze. "You go too far Li boy. Your punishment is now severe. I'll give you one last chance."

"I'd rather die." Syaoran stated coldly.

"That can be arranged." Wu said, leaning forward. "Guards, take him to the dungeons, he is to be executed at sunrise."

The guards grabbed Syaoran's arms. He did not resist them.

"This isn't over yet Wu." Syaoran yelled as he was dragged away to the magically bound dungeons.

OOO

Syaoran was sitting on the floor of the dungeon. The bars and walls of the cell were magically enforced so that no one could break out. Syaoran could break out if he used all of his magic, but what good would that do? He would be left weak and vulnerable, an easy target.

He really needed someone to talk to at that moment. As if answered by prayer, the door to the cell opened. Someone was making their way toward him.

"Mother," Syaoran called, moving to the bars of the cell.

"Xiaolang, I'm glad I came to see you." She said, hanging her head. It didn't quite sound like she was glad to see him though.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Syaoran asked, reaching through the bars and clasping her hand.

Yelan sighed. "Many things, Xiaolang, many things."

Syaoran tried to brush her look out of his mind. "Mother, I have a plan to help me escape, but I don't want you to be left alone."

"There will be no need for that." She said somewhat sadly.

"Do you want me to die mother?" Syaoran asked, his spirits falling.

Yelan gave a weak smile. "Don't be foolish, if you were dead I would not be able to go on. No, what has happened is worse, perhaps."

"What do you mean mother?" Syaoran asked, what could possibly be worse than death?

"I have agreed to wed Wu." Yelan said.

This was much worse.

"Mother, you cannot!" Syaoran said loudly, clutching both of her hands. "He is father's murderer, and you have agreed to be locked into marriage with him?"

"Hush, Xiaolang," Yelan said calmly, "I did this of my own will. I went to Wu once news of your death sentence reached me. I asked him if there was any other way other than to kill you.

"Wu offered that I marry him and in return, you would not be put to death. I accepted; loosing you, Xiaolang, I would not have been able to bear. At least now you will live on."

"But now that you have been imprisoned into wedlock, mother, we will both be alone." Syaoran said mistily.

"No," Yelan said, "Wu could not completely pardon your actions. You are to be exiled."

"Exiled? Then what difference is there of that and the one of death?" Syaoran pursed.

"You will not be permanently banished, only for a temporary period of time." Yelan said.

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked. He was so worried for his mother. He knew that he himself could withstand whatever was thrown at him. But mother…she was becoming more aged and frail.

Yelan sighed. "To tell you the truth, I'm not completely sure. I know that he plans to have you leave the land for a certain period of time, but…who knows what his real plans are."

Syaoran brought his mother's hand through the bars and kissed the backs of each one. What mother was doing now, it wasn't much of a different fate than the first sentence.

"I will do as you wish mother." Syaoran said darkly.

"Don't worry Xiaolang." Yelan said. "Everything will turn out all right. If you would have been killed, who else would stand up to Wu?"

Syaoran sighed. His mother was right; he was Yen's only hope.

OOO

Syaoran wasn't quite sure what time it was. Sometime in the morning perhaps, it was hard to tell with the sky always being so grey.

Syaoran was standing in front of Wu's throne, waiting to hear what fate would befall him. He slowly glanced at his beloved mother, who stood off to the side of the throne. No matter what she said, her fate was worse than his own.

"Good morning Li." Wu said giddily. "How did you sleep?"

Syaoran made no verbal response. There was no way he would respond to Wu's quirky questions. If the positions were ever switched, he would make sure to spare Wu the excitement of simple talk.

"Not in the mood for talk I see. No matter, just listen; I'm sure you'll end up doing a lot of that."

What was that supposed to mean?

"I've decided to send you to a nice little place across the ocean. Wu continued. "A dark little land called Tomoeda. I'm sure the people there will just love you."

Syaoran's eyes narrowed, he had never heard of this Tomoeda place before. Were the people there monsters? Were people even there at all?

"Your banishment is to last one month." Wu said. "That is, if you even last that long."

Yelan cried out and ran to the throne, but the guards held her back. Syaoran figured that his mother suspected something like this would happen. She probably just didn't think it would cause such an effect on her.

"Take him to the haven!" Wu shouted.

Syaoran didn't struggle. He tried not to think about his mother crying in the background. He was taken to a black carriage and driven to the haven. He didn't know why he was going along with this whole thing. He decided it was because his father's death had still not been justly proven. Syaoran wouldn't kill Wu until he admitted he killed his father.

The carriage stopped and Syaoran was taken out. He saw the sleek ship docked on the haven. It was rather small and shaped like a sparrow. The ocean seemed smooth in the middle.

Syaoran was escorted by the guards down the dock to the ship. When they came to the ramp up the ship, the guards backed up.

"This is where you continue alone." One of the guards said. "May God take pity on your soul in Tomoeda. Even _you_ may not come back alive."

Syaoran walked up the ramp of the ship, not reacting to the guard's words. He would have to see this Tomoeda place before he would react in any manner.

As soon as Syaoran was on the ship, it broke away from the dock and sailed away. It seemed as if the ship was like a sharp blade cutting through the water. The speed of the ship surprised Syaoran. It was probably propelled by black magic.

Syaoran did not look back upon the land of Yen. He instead, looked to the horizon. He could not see any outline of land that might be Tomoeda. He sighed. This was going to be a long ride.

Syaoran withdrew his pendant sword and stared at it in his hand. _I promise you father, whatever I do, I will take Wu down and bring out the true cause of your death._

OOO

The ship arrived at the bank of Tomoeda. It seemed about the same as Yen. The sky was grey, a feeling of darkness filtered through the air. There were a few distinct differences though.

Tomoeda was incredibly green, even if it was a misty grey-green. Also, with the feeling of darkness in the air, there was also a feeling of mystery and old fear. The land of Tomoeda was being disturbed by his presence.

Syaoran hopped off the boat onto a rickety wooden dock. This place was as quiet as Yen was as well. What was lurking behind the veil of shadows?

There was no point in staying still, might as well go see what I'll have to live with for one month.

With that, Syaoran walked away through a lightly wooded area in hopes of finding some sort of habitat.

Syaoran walked for twenty minutes; perhaps, before he saw anything that gave some sign that something (preferably people) was living there. He came to a clearing. In the distance, he saw scattered houses. It was hard to see past all of the trees.

Syaoran was about to continue forward when he felt a sense of magic behind him. It was dark, but warmer than the magic he could already feel.

He looked behind himself, but he could see nothing. Whatever he had felt was gone now. Syaoran turned to head toward the town. He might find someone who would be willing to tell him about where he was.

As Syaoran walked toward what appeared to be a village, he caught sight of a small market place. Besides the shop keepers at their stands, there seemed to be hardly anyone at the place. The little market place had a small buzz of whisper and occasional talk. It was almost as quiet as Yen, enough to convince Syaoran that it was safe to talk to someone.

He stepped out from the trees into the marketplace. His soft boots made the same soft patting sound they made on Yen's stone streets.

The people immediately noticed the foreign sound and looked up to see Syaoran. As soon as they saw him, they bent their heads down to whisper to each other. Obviously they didn't get outsiders too often.

Syaoran ignored the people and decided to walk to a marketer at a booth. At least if he tried to talk to a shopkeeper they couldn't run away and avoid him…or so he hoped.

The first booth that caught his eye was one that was selling bright oranges. The shopkeeper was a girl who seemed a couple of years older than him. She had dark eyes and long, dark hair.

"Hello," Syaoran said as he approached the booth.

"Hello," the girl said unemotionally.

At least she's not frightened.

"Could you possibly inform me on where a new comer should go in this place?" Syaoran said, trying to act uniform.

The girl shook her head. "I would tell you to turn around and go right back where you came from."

"That's not really an option." Syaoran stated, somewhat bitterly.

"Then I would tell you to move on somewhere else." The girl said. "You do not want to trouble yourself with this already troubled land."

Syaoran wished it were only that easy. He, perhaps, would have moved to another place, but he already knew that Wu had sent spies to follow him. He had seen the birds flying far behind his ship. They would stay around long enough, just to make sure he stayed.

Syaoran didn't say anything else to the girl. He simply walked away.

"Good luck," the girl called lightly, "you probably won't get any from anyone else here."

He didn't doubt her, by the stares people were giving him, he could tell he was intruding.

Suddenly, Syaoran could feel another warm, dark, magical presence. It was much like the one he had felt earlier. He was so distracted that he accidentally ran into someone.

"Uhf," Syaoran gasped, stumbling back a bit. He had run into a man who looked absolutely terrified of him.

"You, you are filled with that same dark magic." The man said, pointing an accusing finger at Syaoran.

Syaoran frowned a bit. What did this crazy man mean by _same dark magic_?

"Don't you try and waltz through town normally too!" The man shouted.

"Look sir," Syaoran said, "I'm not doing any business here, I'm just-!"

"Liar," the man roared, causing Syaoran to glare at him. "Get out now! Leave. Be gone!"

"I wish I could." Syaoran said, frustrated with this odd man. He tried to walk by, but the man wouldn't let him.

"Oh no, you won't come and go so easily." The crazed man said.

Before Syaoran could respond, someone else spoke.

"Come now Dilbert, are the people of Tomoeda always this rude to people they've only just met?" A voice calmly asked.

Syaoran and the Dilbert man turned toward the voice. It belonged to a girl who could not have been older than Syaoran. He noted how differently she was dressed. While the people he had seen were simply dressed, she was dressed much more black and flowingly. The outfit made her, already fair skin seem even more so, also bringing out her light brown hair and deep green eyes. Actually, now that he looked, she seemed to be dressed as a-

"Witch," Dilbert cried, "you've brought him here!"

"I don't know about that." The girl said. "But I do intend to take him away without you yelling about anymore."

"We won't tolerate another one of your kind here witch!" Dilbert cried.

Syaoran noticed how the people in the market seemed to ignore the man's raving. He figured they must be used to it.

"If you want him to be gone, then move out of the way so that we may leave." The girl said.

She didn't wait for a response, she grabbed Syaoran's wrist and pulled him past Dilbert. She led him toward the forest.

"You'll never get away with this, evil, stained, girl, never!" Dilbert yelled.

The girl made no response. Syaoran saw what the man meant by "your kind". The girl's aura was veiled by a black one. He could barely make out the pink one underneath, just as his aura was veiled.

"Why do you stand to let him out in the streets?" Syaoran asked coldly, wondering why the crazy man was running about.

"I don't let him." The girl said, her gaze steadfast. "The people can't get him to leave Tomoeda; then again, they can't get me to leave either."

"So you're a witch?" Syaoran asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My magic is veiled by blackness, so they call me witch." The girl said regularly. "I'm sorry about Dilbert." She looked up into his eyes. "I'll show you this place. My name is Sakura."

OOO

VictorianPearl: And there is the first chapter of my first AU.

Syaoran: Congrats.

VictorianPearl: Expect an update about once a week. It will take two weeks for chapter two to come out because I'm going to Carmel with my family :D

Syaoran: I hope you have fun.

VictorianPearl: I do too. Please leave me reviews and you will be rewarded with a fatty second chapter once I am back. Oh yeah, the trip's the 18-22, so the second chapter should be up by the 26th or 27th.


	2. NeoClow's Haven

VictorianPearl: Comments and notes are at the end of the chapter. Disclaimers are rhetorical.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter Two Neo-Clow's Haven

"Sakura," Syaoran repeated, unable to help himself from doing so.

The girl Sakura still had a hold on his wrist. She was leading them deeper and deeper into the wood. The farther they traveled, the more perfumed the air became. Soon, they came into a part of the wood where large, ancient, trees grew.

The wood of the trees was knotted and twisted. The branches were thick, reaching out like stretched fingers. The leaves were a deep green color, thick on the trees and scattered on the ground. It seemed as if a mist clung to the ground of the wood.

"Sakura…Sakura, are you back?" A female voice called.

A girl about the same age as Sakura came running out from the trees. She had long black hair, violet eyes, and fair skin. She was dressed in the same style as Sakura, but not quite as dark. The dress she had on was deep purple.

The girl stopped short when she saw Syaoran. Her eyes did not leave his face. She stared at him indifferently, curiously, but not like the people of the town. This girl was perspective, something that put Syaoran on his guard.

"I see you've brought a guest." The girl said.

"Guest…what do you mean guest?" Another voice shouted.

At that moment, a little winged bear figure shot out of the trees behind the girl. Syaoran was not surprised or curious of the creature. This land was a land of mystics and mystery.

"Tomoyo, Kero, I would like you to meet…" Sakura trailed.

"Syaoran," Syaoran said, filling in his name.

"Yes, this is Syaoran." Sakura motioned to the foreign boy standing next to her. "He is new here and will be staying with us."

"Sakura, I don't think this is a good idea." The little bear piped. "We don't know this stranger; we've never seen him before. How can we be sure to trust him?" Kero eyed Syaoran suspiciously, who glared in return.

"Come now Kero," Tomoyo started, moving past him to stand next to Syaoran, "are we going to treat our guest like the rest of this town? Let's welcome him."

Tomoyo started to make for the thick trees from which she came, but the little beast would not let her.

"Come on Sakura, you're a smart girl. You should know better than to bring strangers here." Kero said.

"Look," Syaoran interrupted, starting to get annoyed by the little beast, "these girls seem to be the smartest people I've seen in a while. I think that if they trust me to stay, I should get to stay!"

"You don't get a say in the conversation." Kero shot.

"Stop now." Sakura said calmly, walking between Syaoran and Kero. "Syaoran is staying and that's final. I can see that he is not evil, his soul is pure. If we do not take him he will be all alone. Isn't that how it was with me when the town rejected me?"

Sakura put her hands on her hips. Kero moved nervously.

"That was different." He said.

"It is the same, this argument is over." With that, Sakura walked past Kero into the thick trees.

Syaoran was confused by the end of the conversation, but what matter what had happened to her? Now he had a place to stay. He followed Sakura, with Kero and Tomoyo behind him, into the trees.

When they entered the trees, Syaoran stopped short. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was very woodsy, much like something he had read out of books when he was little.

The area he had stepped into was fairly large. A thick circle of trees shielded what looked like it could have been a one-roomed house. There were a few tables, chairs, and shelves, neatly lining the circle of trees. Two of the far trees, which were extremely large, had doors on them. In the center of all of this was a large, black, cauldron, baking above a deep blue fire.

"I see you've lived up to your name." Syaoran said.

"Name…?" Tomoyo asked, confused by his comment.

"Witch," Sakura said factually.

Tomoyo's mouth formed an "oh" in understanding. She had gotten so used to the different kind of lifestyle that it seemed too natural to be called a specific name.

"Follow me." Sakura directed toward Syaoran, walking toward the large knotted trees.

Syaoran followed Sakura through a doorway in the slightly smaller tree. The inside seemed larger than appearance showed it to be. There was a large room with a twisting staircase that went through the wood into the upper part of the tree.

The room itself was very ballroom-like. It was lit by a few candles that blazed with teal flames. Grand instruments occupied a small portion of the room. Such instruments were foreign to the young man from Yen.

"The rooms are up the staircase." Sakura said, looking down on Syaoran from the first step.

Syaoran glanced up at her; he had been studying the room so intently that he had forgotten to follow Sakura any further. He came up behind Sakura and followed her up the steps.

Up past the stairs, the exit emerged onto a large, wooden, walkway in the branches of the tree. The circular walkway surrounded a house nestled on the large branches.

"Welcome to Neo-Clow's Haven." Sakura said.

"That is the name of this place? What is it after?" Syaoran asked.

"A magician," Sakura replied.

Syaoran waited for her to continue. When she did not, he followed her into the house. Once that was done, he followed Sakura back down the stairs.

When they reached the trees, Syaoran was surprised to find the girl from the market there. She was sitting, talking to Tomoyo.

"So, I see you've decided to stay." The girl said to Syaoran.

"Indeed he has." Sakura said. "Syaoran, I would like you to meet my friend. Her name is Meiling."

"My pleasure," Meiling said, standing up and giving a small curtsy.

Syaoran gave a small nod of notice. He was very unaccustomed to being acknowledged.

"Why don't we all sit and give Syaoran a chat about our history?" Sakura suggested.

Everyone inclined while Sakura walked over to the cauldron. She grabbed four goblets and a ladle. She poured the brew from the cauldron into each before handing them out.

"Here you are Syaoran." Sakura said, handing him the goblet.

Syaoran did not take it. He never accepted drinks from anyone. The words spoken by Wu reverberated in his mind.

Sakura smiled warmly. "It's only cider."

Syaoran hesitantly took the goblet from her. Nobody ever smiled at him in such a way.

Tomoyo smiled a little to herself as she watched the foreigner take the goblet from Sakura's hands. Perhaps he would be the one to rescue them all from such darkness and hatred…perhaps.

"Meiling, why don't you start us off?" Sakura said, taking a seat.

"It's been such a long time since I've last done this." Meiling said mistily. "I was born here in this town. I lived with my parents until I was twelve. It was just two years after…well, the darkness ended up swallowing them. I have been training in the arts of defense. I have prepared so that if the darkness returns, I can fight it.

"I run the shop in the market for a little extra profit. The people of the town pay me no attention. I am loved nor hated by them. It is because I have no magic, they believe there is no possible threat in me."

Meiling stopped talking, signaling that she was done. Tomoyo was about to start when a scream echoed through the trees.

Kero flew into the clearing. "What in Clow's name was that?"

"Let's find out." Syaoran said, striding into the forest, followed by everyone else.

Another scream rippled thorough the air around them. A girl in a light colored dress with pigtails ran through the trees toward them. She was being pursued by a demon beast. The creature was hairy with large bat wings. Its large claws were spread, about to attack the girl.

"Shield," Sakura called, her hand outstretched before her.

The beast flew right into a newly made force field between itself and it's prey. The beast let out a sickening squeal. It flew backward a little, it's eyes burning like coals. It began to exhale smoke before spurting large green flames onto the force field.

"Chiharu," Tomoyo cried, catching the frightened girl in her arms.

The poor girl was sobbing non-stop. "It hurt Takashi." Chiharu cried. "He took a wound to his head!"

"Tomoyo, Chiharu, go to a safer hiding spot." Meiling called, picking up a large, long, stick from the ground. "Hurry, the shield's almost down!"

Tomoyo managed to pull the reluctant Chiharu back into the safety of the thick trees. No sooner had they disappeared into the trees than did the shield falter.

"It's been breached!" Meiling shouted, holding her stick up in fighting position.

Syaoran activated his sword, just as the beast hurtled downward for them. The creature quickly pulled up from its dive, narrowly missing the sharp tongue of Syaoran's sword. The beast swooped around a tree and came back for the warriors. Its fangs were bared, ready for fresh blood.

"Watery," Sakura shouted, a hydrant of water spraying from her hands to the beast.

The beast squealed from the waster stinging against its eyes. It lost its place and came down upon Meiling's stick. Meiling fell backward with the beast before her. When her back hit the ground, she positioned her feat under the beast and kicked it over her body.

The beast went flying over Meiling, barely seeing Syaoran's sword in time to catch it in its teeth. Syaoran yanked his sword out of the beast's mouth and pushed it into it's thy muscle.

The beast let out a screech and flew backward out of the sword. Syaoran lashed out for the creature again, but it darted upward before he could reach it.

"Arrow," Sakura called, using her newly found bow to shoot an arrow into the back of the beast's neck.

The creature turned and shot for her.

"Fly," She cried, growing a pair of black wings and soaring upward.

Meiling threw her stick through the air. It hit the beast squarely in the back of the head. The beast turned back and shot green flames at Meiling. She leapt into a summersault, narrowly avoiding the treachery of the flames.

Syaoran pulled his sword back behind his shoulder, ready to throw it at the beast's heart.

"Fire,"

Just as the sword left Syaoran's hand, the blade became alive with flame. It pierced the beast's heart, killing it at once.

Syaoran walked up to the fallen beast and pulled his sword out of it. He wiped the bloody blade, now free of fire, on the beast's furry body.

Sakura drifted down next to Meiling, her wings disappearing.

"Does this happen often?" Syaoran asked, motioning to the beast.

"Too often for comfort," Meiling replied, walking to where Tomoyo and Chiharu had gone.

Sakura was about to follow after when a hand gripped her shoulder. She turned to look at Syaoran.

"Where did you learn that kind of magic?" Syaoran asked. "How can you just make it appear from your hands?"

Sakura gave a small smile. "Clow taught me." She replied.

"He must have been powerful." Syaoran said, pulling out an ofuda. "I can use talismans, but not magic purely from scratch." To demonstrate, the ofuda lit up in his hands and slowly smoldered down into nothing.

"Yes," Sakura said mistily, looking downward. "Clow was very powerful."

"What happened to him?" Syaoran asked, placing his free hand on her shoulder. He didn't know why he felt so concerned about this girl he had only just met, but he knew that there was a good reason. He just hadn't figured it out yet.

"I will tell you, perhaps, all about it later." Sakura said. "If you will be patient, I will tell you everything. But for now, we must see if Chiharu is all right."

Sakura turned away and walked through the trees, Syaoran close behind her. Back at Neo-Clow's Haven were Tomoyo, Meiling, Chiharu, and a young man in uniform lying on top of a clean table. The young man had bandages around his heard. The new Chiharu girl was sitting at the table; the upper half of her body was draped, sobbing, over the young man.

"What happened to Takashi?" Sakura asked softly.

"Chiharu said it happened on their way here." Tomoyo started. "They were attacked without warning. Takashi was trying to protect Chiharu, but was caught by one of the creature's talons."

"How is he now?" Sakura asked, moving closer to the unconscious Takashi.

"He'll be fine." Tomoyo replied. "Meiling helped me and Chiharu carry him back. We cleaned up his head and bandaged him nicely."

"Alright," Meiling said, "I'll go get some brew for Chiharu." She moved toward a cabinet full of potions.

"Brew…?" Syaoran asked.

"It will put her to sleep." Tomoyo said. "It has some sleeping magic in it…courtesy of Sakura."

Sakura smiled at Syaoran's stern face. "I have the power to cast sleep." She said. "It's not a bad herbal drink or anything of that sort."

Syaoran nodded, showing that he understood.

Meiling walked up to Chiharu with a powder-blue brew in her hand. "Here you are Chiharu dear." She said, sitting Chiharu up. "Drink this, you will feel much better."

Chiharu looked up at Meiling sadly. "But I want to stay with him."

"I know dear." Meiling said. "But there's nothing you can do for him at the moment. You've had a hard day and need your rest. Takashi won't be waking up until tomorrow anyway."

Chiharu looked down at Takashi. "Alright then," She said reluctantly. She bent down and gave Takashi a light kiss on the lips before straightening up and taking the sleeping brew.

"There you go." Meiling said. "Now, let's get you to bed."

With one last glance at Takashi, Chiharu allowed herself to be taken into the treetops.

"Do they live here too?" Syaoran asked.

"No," Sakura replied, "but they'll need to stay a while so we can take care of them."

"They're one of the few people from the village who have brains." Tomoyo said. "Takashi is trained to stay in the village and protect it if anything should harm it. What happened to him today is very out of character."

"Why are you being attacked?" Syaoran asked, sitting down in a chair.

"By what, the people or the monsters?" Tomoyo asked bitterly.

"The monsters," Syaoran said.

"I'll tell him." Sakura said to Tomoyo. "It's a long story really, but basically, it's from a man named Hikari. He was a child of light but went to the darkness…the bad darkness. It's why the people are afraid of me and why they were afraid of Clow. It's why they…well, no matter what they did. Nobody quite knows why Hikari does this.

"He's randomly been attacking us for some time. We sent our army to protect our border. My brother is with them. Kero's brother is with them as well. The people of this town are reserved, only a few are built for the fight."

Sakura looked down ashamedly. Meiling came up behind her from putting Chiharu to bed. She gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Everything, in the end, might turn out alright.

Sakura shook her head. "On a different matter, Syaoran, tell me about what your home is like." She took a seat, as did Meiling, wanting to hear his history.

A dark shadow passed over Syaoran's face. "I would hardly call the place, Yen, my home." He said bitterly. "It is a place where I was raised and where I lived, but it was not a home."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "Yes, I think I might be able to understand a little." She said. "I considered the village my home until I was ten. Even though my father had died, it was still home. It wasn't until I had undergone the change that this place," she motioned to the area around her, "became my new home."

"You mean that you weren't always like this?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura shook her head. "You see, my mother died when I was very young. When my father died, it became only my brother and me. Clow took me in when Touya, my brother, was called to fight. That's when I changed.

"After I changed, the villagers destroyed Clow." Sakura bit her lip. Syaoran saw that he had brought back many painful memories. "They drove me out into the woods…I've been here ever since."

"That story had a lot cut out of it." Meiling said softly.

"I know." Sakura said. "But now is not the time to be telling all of it." A few tears dripped down onto her hands. "Excuse me." She got up and went into the smaller oak tree.

Syaoran got up to go after her; he was feeling something he hadn't felt in a long time…guilt.

"Be careful." Meiling said as Syaoran's hand was on the doorknob. "Sakura is a little touchy about Clow; he was like a father to her. Be careful."

Syaoran gave a small nod before opening the door and entering. Inside, he found Sakura sitting at the edge of the ballroom in the shadows, crying softly. He walked to her and sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry for all of this trouble." Sakura said, trying to wipe away her tears faster than they could fall.

Syaoran shook his head. "No, it's no trouble at all." He said. "I haven't been able to fight a monster in combat in a very long time, I enjoyed it."

Sakura gave a small, watery, smile. "I suppose I'm just used to everyone considering me a troublesome burden."

"The people here in Neo-Clow's Haven seem to care about you." Syaoran said.

"Yes, they do." Sakura whispered. "I care about them too. I just wish, sometimes, that when I went into the village, I wouldn't be so terrorized."

"Why don't you leave then?" Syaoran asked. "Why do you stay and bare it all?"

Sakura sighed, moving a hand up the smooth wooden wall. "Even if I am not wanted, this place is still my home. I could never tear my friends away from it as well, or leave them. Besides, I am bound here until the darkness passes."

"When will that happen?" Syaoran asked.

"I'm not sure when." Sakura said. "Clow gave me a hint, but it wasn't anything that I could figure."

Syaoran lightly took one of Sakura's hands in his own. "I could help you fight the darkness; I could help take it all away."

Sakura looked up into his eyes, studying them. "I think you've already begun to help. You are already repelling the darkness faster than you know."

Sakura slowly got up with Syaoran following like suit.

"Thank you." She said, pulling her hand gently out of his and walking up the stairs to the treetop.

"So what happens now?" Meiling asked Tomoyo.

Tomoyo sighed. "I think things are turning in the right direction. I think Syaoran will definitely be a help."

"A help for more reason than one," Meiling said, smirking.

Tomoyo gave a small glare. "You have absolutely no room to talk about such matters."

"Poor Takashi," Meiling said, changing the subject quickly, "I wonder why the creature attacked him. They've never attacked townspeople in the woods before."

Before Tomoyo could respond, a hawk's screech filled the wood. A great hawk flew into the clearing and landed on Meiling's lap. It presented her a little piece of parchment clasped in its claw.

"What have you brought me, Astroph?" Meiling asked the bird, her hands reaching for the parchment.

Astroph dropped the parchment in Meiling's hands and jumped onto her shoulder for a better position. He watched as Meiling opened and read the little piece of parchment.

"There's trouble in the village." Meiling said, standing up. "I must go now."

"What's happened?" Tomoyo asked. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I'll go alone." Meiling said. "Some monsters were flying through the town. Nothing happened, but the people are spooked. I need to help calm them down."

"Be careful." Tomoyo called, watching Meiling retreat with Astroph into the woods.

'_Things are beginning to get out of hand now. Two attacks in one day are rare to see. I don't think this is any coincidence. There is definitely a disturbance in Tomoeda…and I don't think it's Syaoran.'_ Tomoyo thought.

OOO

Meiling stood and watched the clutter of screaming people in the dark streets. It was total chaos, how was she supposed to stop this mess? Astroph hopped off of her shoulder and flew away.

Meiling took a deep breath and pushed her way into the crowd. She tried to get the peoples' attention, but it was extremely difficult. Nobody was willing to listen. She finally managed to get some women's and children's attention.

Meiling told all that she could to go home and lock their doors. Of course if the monsters really _were_ attacking, the plan would be no good. No matter, if the people thought they were safe, they would calm down.

Now, Meiling was trying to make her way to the areas full of cottages. If she could get most of the population in that area calm, then perhaps it would spread out and people would calm down on their own.

The streets, usually empty, were swarming with people. The residence of the town were scattered, there shouldn't have been so many people in one area. It seemed as if they gathered and panicked. Meiling tried to break through the crowd, but ended up being swallowed by it instead.

The people all around suddenly tightened and Meiling felt herself being squished. She tried to back up, but found that she could not move or breathe. Meiling did all she could to keep from panicking.

Meiling let her body relax and collapse. Her body managed to melt to the ground. By some miracle, someone found her arm and slowly pulled her out of the chaotic crowd.

The feeling of cool grass brought Meiling back to her senses. She took a few deep breaths before bothering to see who had helped her. When she looked up, she was met by a familiar face.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Oh, it's a bit of a cliff hanger, ne?

Syaoran: Just a bit, but that awesome fight scene makes up for it.

VictorianPearl: You bet! I'm sorry that I couldn't update before I went to the beach. I got the new Harry Potter book and became totally engrossed with it. X.X


	3. Raiden

VictorianPearl: Disclaimers are obvious and comments are at the end of the chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 3 Raiden

Syaoran awoke early the next morning. When he finally came down to the clearing, he was greeted by Tomoyo and Sakura in traveling cloaks. He got the idea and grabbed a large, brown, cloak that Sakura was holding in her hands, obviously for him.

"We're going to the town, I take it." Syaoran said.

"Correct," Tomoyo said, "Meiling was called to the town last night by a friend. I heard screams coming from the town all night. We're going to make sure she's all right."

"What about him?" Syaoran asked, pointing to Takashi's still form.

"It's alright." Sakura said. "I put a sleeping spell on both Takashi and Chiharu; they won't be waking any time soon. Come now, let us leave quickly."

Three cloaked figures left the clearing. Sakura sprinkled a purple dust around the outline of trees surrounding Neo-Clow's Haven. It would temporarily create a shield that the monsters could not pass and keep the Haven safe.

With that, they continued through the woods to the town. It was damp with morning dew. The sky was darker than usual and everything seemed to be cast in shadow. There were no flowers to brighten the mood, only trees and grass.

When the three young adults entered the town square, they were surprised to be the only ones there. The entire perimeter was silent. There was no sign of a human or animal anywhere.

"What is going on?" Tomoyo whispered, afraid that speaking loudly might awake something terrible.

"I've never seen it like this." Sakura said softly. "There are always people filling the square."

Syaoran silently ran toward the nearest cottage. He jumped the fence and dodged the herb garden.

"Shouldn't one of you stop him?" Kero asked, popping up from Tomoyo's hair.

"Where have you been all this time?" Sakura asked casually.

"Sleeping," Was his reply.

Syaoran was seen looking through the windows of the cottage. He then ran across the grass, jumped the fence, and rejoined the group.

"All of the curtains are drawn; I can't tell if there is anyone inside or not." Syaoran said.

"Let's find Meiling." Tomoyo said, starting to walk down the road.

"How do you know where to look?" Syaoran asked.

"Meiling's a smart girl." Sakura replied. "She'll have gotten inside and we know where."

Syaoran decided that it would be better to just follow the two girls rather than to just continue asking questions.

Tomoyo led the way to wherever it was that they were going. In a few minutes, they were off the cobbled roads in the town and on the dirt roads in the country. There were wide, open fields with few houses or trees for shelter.

Finally, after some time, they came to the walkway of a large cottage. There were many acres of land around the house surrounded by a thick wooden fence. Syaoran recognized it to be a field for some type of animal, but saw none.

A faint tinkling sound reached Syaoran's ears. He saw wind chimes hanging off the small porch. The curtains were drawn in this cottage also, but a faint light could be seen protruding from one of the far windows.

Tomoyo hurried up the wooden porch steps and gave the door three hard knocks. They waited a while for someone to answer. The sound of locks being opened from inside could be heard. Then the knob slowly turned and the door creaked open.

"Meiling!" Tomoyo cried, throwing her arms around her friend. "I'm so glad that you're alright. I was worried you were one of the ones screaming in the village."

Meiling shook her head. "I'm fine, although, it was scary to see the way everyone was acting last night."

"Was there much trouble?" Sakura asked.

"Too much, but I didn't stay long to watch." Meiling replied. "But we'll talk of that later, come inside."

"I thought you lived in Neo-Clow's Haven." Syaoran said.

"I do." Meiling told him. "This isn't my house."

"It's mine." A voice said.

A figure protruded from the shadows, holding a candle. He had blond hair and electric blue eyes. He was well built, obviously in top shape. There was an excitement that surrounded him, something that showed his sparking aura underneath. One could tell right away that he held no evil.

"Please come in." He said.

Syaoran realized that he was still standing outside. He briskly walked inside while Meiling closed the door behind him. Syaoran followed everyone as they walked toward the back of the cottage. He could barely make out the yellow color of the walls in the seeping darkness.

They entered into a large room. There was a low fire in the fireplace that helped illuminate the room. There were many old pictures on the wall of landscapes. The window had its curtains drawn shut. Against a clear space on the wall was a glass cabinet. It was full of magic books and instruments.

"Please take a seat." The blond man said, motioning to the velvety sofas that occupied the room. "I'll bring you some tea." He left the room to go and get the tea.

"Is it really necessary to have the curtains drawn and the house dark?" Tomoyo asked.

Meiling nodded. "We scouted a few of the scale-like flying beasts at about four o'clock this morning. We decided it would be better to keep the house dark like the rest of the village."

"Are they sitting in darkness too?" Kero asked.

"No," Meiling replied, "they're sleeping. Last night…or should I say this morning, we finally managed to get everyone in their houses. We…"

"Just who is this guy that you're with?" Syaoran interrupted, somewhat annoyed at never hearing his name.

"Raiden," The man said, returning with the tea. "My name is Raiden. I don't believe I got yours either."

"Syaoran,"

Raiden offered Syaoran a cup of tea, but was refused. Raiden then moved on, handing the tea out to everyone else. He set the tray (with one spare cup) on a small table before taking a seat next to Meiling on the sofa.

"What happened last night?" Sakura asked.

Raiden took in a deep breath. "As you know, some of Hikari's flying beasts were swooping around the town. They didn't actually attack anyone, but they caused an uproar.

"I sent Astroph, my hawk," He glanced at Syaoran, "with a message to Meiling. I knew that the women of the village would listen to her if she told them to calm down and return home. It turns out that she started doing just that before I could even find her.

"I was trying to stay near to the edge of the wood so that I might be able to see her. It was very difficult though. I was finally able to spot her…barely. She was completely compacted in the throng. I saw her fall and was able to pull her out before being trampled." Raiden sighed again. "Why don't you continue from here Meiling?"

Meiling looked up into his eyes and slowly nodded. "Okay, here's what happened after that."

The feeling of cool grass brought Meiling back to her senses. She took a few deep breaths before bothering to see who had helped her. When she looked up, she was met by a familiar face.

"Raiden," She cried, wrapping her arms around him, "I am so happy to see you…so happy that you found me."

Raiden smiled and stood Meiling up, the crowd temporarily forgotten. "Are you alright?" He asked. "Did you get hurt?"

Meiling shook her head. "No, I'm fine, just a little shaken." Meiling was extremely strong willed and independent. She never let anyone try and take care of her if she could help it…Raiden was an exception.

"Meiling, I don't know how we're going to get these people to calm down." Raiden said, a troubled look on his face.

"I've already managed to get many of the women and children into their homes." Meiling said. "There are so many people in the square though, I don't know how we'll get to them."

"We'll start in the country." Raiden said. "We'll comb the country edge of town and work our way inwards."

"We should call for more help." Meiling pleaded.

"We could not call for anyone that the townspeople would listen to." Raiden said, taking Meiling's hands in his own. "We have to do this alone."

Meiling knew he was right; there was nobody that could help them. "Alright then, let's start."

Raiden kept one of Meiling's hands in his own. They went all around the countryside to talk to the people. The country folk had more sense than the townsfolk and were standing outside their houses holding pitchforks and shovels. They were ready if the flying beasts came back.

Although running around the country side and talking to the people was not hard, it was time consuming. Meiling and Raiden were forced to stop at a distant friend's house to rest. The people that lived there were Rika Terada, her husband Yoshiyuki Terada, and his aunt, Kaho Mizuki.

They all sat on the porch in the front yard. Loud screams came from the town, they still had not ceased.

"What has happened to the guards?" Raiden asked. "I looked for them when I got to the town, but could not find them."

The redheaded lady, Kaho, took the grace of explaining the situation. "When the beasts flew away after swooping on the town, all of the soldiers rode after them. None stayed behind."

"We watched it all from here." Rika said. "The town didn't start to lose their heads until they realized no guards were there to protect them."

"We're done scoping the countryside." Meiling sighed. "Now we must move into the town, something I do not look foreword to doing."

"Raiden," Terada called, 'did you ever get your sword back?"

Raiden shook his head. "They still don't believe that I didn't slaughter those diseased people. They should know that it was Hikari's work! I would have never killed them, especially because…" His voice dropped to a whisper, "my sister was with them."

Terada nodded his head. "Wait one second." He got up and went into the cottage. He returned holding a scabbard. He pulled the sword out of it. It was Raiden's sword.

Raiden gaped. "How-how did you manage to get that?"

Terada winked. "I have my ways…but don't mind that. We are entering dangerous times now, even more so than before. You will need this. Tonight it should help you in more ways than one. Isn't that right aunt Kaho?"

Kaho smiled. "That is very right indeed."

Rika shook her head. "I'll never understand you two."

With that, Raiden and Meiling ran to the village. They were renewed with strength and hope that they could get their task done. When they reached the town, they slowed down to a walk.

"I can finally use my magic!" Raiden cried. He was so happy that even in the midst of all of the turmoil, he wrapped his arms around Meiling and brought her close to him. "My magic is only accessible through this sword. I can finally use it again!"

Meiling was trying to fight down a blush. "I'm so glad for you. Not to mention how much easier it makes this whole business."

Raiden released Meiling fro his hug. "Come on, I have a plan."

The village was as chaotic as it had been when Meiling had first arrived. The noise and energy level had not dropped in the least bit. They did not notice two figures climbing on top of the windmill.

"I hope all goes well." Raiden said, pulling his sword from its scabbard.

He lifted the sword to the sky. In that moment, Raiden regained all of his old magic strength. The blade became alive with electricity. A large and bright lightning bolt flashed from the sky and struck at the base of the windmill.

The people paused in their chaos to turn toward the place that the bolt truck. There was silence in the town as their attention was drawn to the windmill.

"People of Tomoeda!" Raiden called out, the peoples' attention on him. "You must stop this madness. What if the beasts really _were _attacking? Would you let them destroy you so easily? You must learn to stay calm and not panic. If you do that, the beasts will develop a fear for you as well.

"It is about four o'clock in the morning! You have been screaming for many hours. If you were to use that energy toward learning to fight, you would beat them! You must stop this madness though. Go and think about what you must do. That is all I have to say."

A murmur spread through the people of the town. Raiden and Meiling sat back to watch what they would do. The people had calmed and found Raiden's speech inspirational. They then realized how tired they were and retired to their homes. The streets were empty in fifteen minutes.

Raiden and Meiling climbed down the windmill. They stood in front of it for a while, gazing at the dark sky.

"Well, we did it Meiling." Raiden said.

"You did a wonderful job up there." Meiling said.

"Thank you. I know that you didn't have to come or answer my message and I want to thank you for doing that."

"Of course I would answer your call." Meiling said, smiling. "I wouldn't let you do this alone. You _need_ me for this."

"Meiling," Raiden said, turning to face her, "you have no idea just how much I _do_ need you."

Meiling caught her breath. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest. He had never looked at her the way he was now. She found herself getting lost in his electric blue eyes.

Raiden wrapped his arms around Meiling's waist, slowly pulling her close to him. He leant his head down, his lips close to hers. They were about to touch when a screech rippled through the air.

Meiling and Raiden looked up toward the sky. One of Hikari's scale-like beasts was flying straight for them. Raiden grabbed Meiling's hand and led her to the forest. "Let's get that creature away form the village before it stirs up the people again."

They ran into the woods, the beast close behind. Raiden chanced a look over his shoulder. He threw himself over Meiling, causing them to fall to the ground. They narrowly missed the beast's sharp claws.

Raiden struggled up and unsheathed his sword. He closed his eyes and chanted. Lightning bolts started to rain down upon the beast. The beast was incredibly fast though, and Raiden was out of practice. It managed to dodge them easily.

When the lightning rain ended, the beast began to fly in circles around Meiling and Raiden. The beast decided to make for Raiden; its sharp talons outstretched. Raiden managed to block with his sword, but was having trouble trying to slash the beast.

Meiling looked around for something, anything that could be used as a weapon against the beast. She heard a loud _clang_ and turned back toward the battle.

Raiden's sword had been knocked out of his hands far behind him. He turned and ran for his sword. The beast swooped behind him, its claws about to snatch him.

"Raiden," Meiling cried.

She ran and leapt onto the back of the beast. She locked her arms tight around its neck.

"Meiling," Raiden called.

The beast was flying upward. There was no way that he could strike it while Meiling was holding onto it.

The beast flew upside down. Meiling lost her grip and fell. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the hard ground. Instead, she was caught in Raiden's arms, just in time.

The beast hurtled downward for the couple. Raiden threw Meiling out of his arms just before the beast smashed into him. Both went tumbling across the ground. Meiling ran up behind the beast, having found a large branch, and smashed it as hard as she could into the back of its head.

The beast let out a shriek, blood dripping down the back of its head. It swiped at Meiling, successfully cutting her branch clean in half. Meiling chucked the branch halves at the beast's head and made a run for it. The beast went for Meiling, but was slowed by an extra weight.

Raiden had grabbed hold of the beast's tale and was digging his heels into the ground. The beast turned to take care of the person clinging to its tail, but was hit hard in the head by another branch.

While the beast was stunned, Raiden took his chance and sliced off its head. It hit the ground with a dull _thud_. Raiden stumbled back and fell to the ground.

"Raiden, are you alright?" Meiling asked, running to his side.

Raiden shook his head. "My arm…it got my arm." He pointed to his left arm with his right hand. His arm had a deep gash below the shoulder, bleeding freely.

"How did you manage to hold onto the creature?" Meiling asked, tearing a strip of cloth from the bottom of her dress.

"I wasn't thinking about my arm." Raiden said in a soft voice. "I was only thinking about keeping you safe."

Meiling had tightly tied and knotted the cloth around Raiden's wound. She slowly slid her hands down his arm to his hand, where she let them rest. "Thank you Raiden. But we must get you back to your home now." Meiling whispered.

They both disposed of the beast's body. They tried to cover the bloody mess as best as possible so that nobody would know what had happened. Meiling then accompanied Raiden back to his house where she fell asleep before she had a chance to start home.

"_Shouldn't we do something?"_

"_Not yet, we must lay low for now."_

"_But they'll discover much in a short period."_

"_That is fine."_

"_Whatever you say."_

"Meiling…" Sakura whispered, twisting her hands. "I am sorry that we could not be of any help."

Meiling waved her hand as if it was nothing. "It's alright. I'm still alive aren't I?"

"Congrats on getting your sword back, Raiden." Kero said. "Now you can be useful again."

"Kero," Tomoyo cried, swatting the creature on the back of the head.

"What?" The little beast asked.

"Come," Sakura said, standing up, "we'll leave you two so that you may rest."

"Please stay longer." Raiden said, also getting up.

"No," Sakura said, "it is about time we left. We have to get back to Chiharu and Takashi."

"We'll see you out the door." Meiling said.

Syaoran and Tomoyo, with Kero, stood and followed Sakura out to the door. Syaoran came up close behind Sakura when they got to the door. When they got outside, somebody was standing outside the wooden gate waiting for them.

Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. Syaoran saw that she didn't let her fear show, but stiffened defiantly. He activated his sword as he drew his attention back to the person standing outside the gate.

He was a man, which could hardly fit his description at all. He was cadaverous. His skin was a grey color that was bruised purple and green. He wore an iron helm with demons carved into it. His misty black hair stuck out like dead branches from under his helm. He was clad in black, which matched his large, solid black eyes.

"'Tis a fancy to have met you here, pink blossom." The corpse-man said with a deep creaking voice. "I didn't know you found a new friend." He motioned to Syaoran. "Have you let him blacken you as well?"

"Your heart is the only black one here." Sakura said softly. She had not moved in the least bit. The wind was lightly blowing her hair and dress.

"Mine not be the only." The man said, smiling wickedly at the people standing near Sakura. "Lord Hikari wishes me to take you to him. It seems that he will enjoy making a toy out of Clow's heir."

Sakura let out a laugh, surprising everyone. "Even if I _wasn't_ already aware of the lying monster you are, I would never let myself be taken off by you."

"Come now, there shall be no harm done."

"You killed my father." Sakura whispered. "The harm is already dealt."

Silence wrapped itself around everyone watching. Sakura's friends were ready for a fight. It would only be a matter of time before one broke out. The tension in the air was so thick that even Syaoran's sword would not have been able to cut it.

"You still hold a grudge to me, pink blossom? I would have thought that you would let go of that after all this time. After all, you father was not one who wished to be remembered."

Sakura's eyes glowed with fire. "You do not know what my father wished. I will make sure that he is remembered." Sakura summoned her sword and pointed it at the dead man. "This fight is between you and me, Lestat."

The dead man, Lestat, gave a wicked smile. He opened the gate and set his feet upon the long stretch of pathway to Raiden's house. He stayed back near the gate; however, Sakura advanced nearer to him.

"Do we simply stand and watch?" Tomoyo asked softly.

"This is her war, she must fight it." Syaoran said, clutching his sword harder.

Sakura positioned herself, summoning a sturdy shield upon her arm. She raised her sword, ready to fight.

Lestat contracted two razor sharp fangs out of his gums. "Let us see if you can withstand the poisonous fangs of the vampire…your father could not."

"You will not kill me. It would anger Hikari to know that he did not get his own hands on my blood." Sakura said confidently.

Lestat simply smirked. "I never said I was going to bite your neck." He drew his sword and charged Sakura.

Sakura dodged the attack and sliced downward. Lestat turned and caught her sword with his, just in time. He swirled his sword around, trying to fling Sakura's into the air. His attempt failed. Sakura backed up a few paces, waiting for Lestat to charge.

He did not keep her waiting. Lestat charged behind a harsh attack which hit Sakura's shield. She brought her sword around, trying to cut his legs, but he blocked. He gave her a mighty shove, sending Sakura stumbling backward.

Sakura ran at Lestat and aimed her swing to his neck. Lestat ducked and slashed his sword at Sakura's legs. She barely managed to block with her shield. She gave a hard kick to Lestat's stomach and backed up. This hurt and enraged him all the more.

Lestat wildly swung his sword at Sakura. When she ducked, Lestat quickly swung his sword horizontally and hit her on the head with the hilt of it. She fell to the ground. Lestat pointed his sword down and stabbed. Sakura rolled to avoid the attack and quickly got up.

"This game grows weary, pink blossom. I'm ending it now."

Lestat dropped his sword and jumped at Sakura, his sharp teeth taking aim at her. Sakura was so surprised by his actions that she barely had time to raise her sword between them. He crashed into her, sending them both to the ground.

Lestat was on top of Sakura, trying to get past her word and shield. In the background, Tomoyo started to run to Sakura, but Syaoran held her back.

"We will not interfere unless she gets hurt." Syaoran said.

Tomoyo bit her lip, but nodded in agreement.

Sakura was struggling hard. She was tossing her body in attempt to throw Lestat off. He, although, was struggling equally as well. Sakura's hand slipped on her sword from all the movement. Lestat took his chance and sank his fangs into her forearm.

Sakura screamed out. She could already feel his poison entering her blood stream. She was going to faint. She wouldn't be able to suck it out. What would happen then?

Sakura did not faint, but she was dangerously close to doing so. Lestat did not move from his spot on top of her.

"Well now, pink blossom, Hikari will be pleased to have you, heir of Clow. He'll finally get his own hands a little dirty."

Sakura was very close to being taken away. Lestat never made it though. Syaoran caught him up and held his sword to his throat.

"If you try and take her, you will surely die by my hand." Syaoran said. "Sakura, do you wish me to kill him?"

Sakura hardly managed to shake her head.

"Not yet." She whispered.

Syaoran turned Lestat to face him. His sword's point was pressed directly over Lestat's heart. "Now listen to me well because I'm only going to say this once. Tell this Hikari that Syaoran Li is here now. If he, or any one of his followers lays one hand on Sakura or her friends, there will be hell to pay."

"And if I refuse?" Lestat prodded.

Syaoran tightened his grip. "Then I will go against Sakura's wishes and kill you now."

Lestat saw no lie in Syaoran's eyes. He slowly nodded his head. "I shall tell my master this. Do not be mislead though. The next time we meet, I'll not be caught off guard."

Syaoran threw the vampire out of the gate and watched him fly away. He then turned back to Sakura. Tomoyo, Meiling, Raiden, and Kero were already gathering around her.

"We must get her back to Neo-Clow's Haven immediately." Kero said, sucking out the poison. What he spat out of his mouth was red blood tainted black. Tomoyo squeezed Sakura's good hand.

Sakura's skin was turning a blue shade. Her lips and eyelids were a shade of purple. Her green eyes stared blankly up at the sky.

"Why is she changing so?" Syaoran asked, hurriedly kneeling next to her. He placed his hands on either side of her face.

"The vampires in this land are able to inject poison into one's blood stream." Meiling explained, tying knots of cloth around Sakura's arm in attempt to stop the blood flow. "If we do not hurry, the poison will overcome her and turn her to a vampire."

Raiden picked Sakura up and handed her over to Syaoran. "Quickly, to Neo-Clow's Haven!"

OVOVOV

VictorianPearl: Yay, another chapter up.

Kero: Yay, now it's time for questions and answers…even though we only have one today.

**stephie23: **Thanks for the great reviews. I'm sorry that it isn't Touya that Meiling falls in love with. Actually, I was going to have Meiling fall in love with Touya in Living Metonymy. What happened was that I wrote this chapter before I wrote the party scene in LM. Originally, people weren't supposed to already know who Raiden was previous to this story. I wanted people to look at the chapter title and think, _what?_

Kero: And remember…

VictorianPearl: Thank you reviewers, I'm glad you're responding to my story. Tell me if you like it or what would make it better. Also, tell me what you predict will happen. Most of the story is already written, but I'd like to know where you think I'm going.

Kero and VictorianPearl: Ja ne!


	4. The Ancient Book of Lore

VictorianPearl: Here is chapter four. It's a little late, but you can thank my color guard camp for that.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 4 The Ancient Book of Lore

It was very frantic at Neo-Clow's Haven. Sakura had been sick for a week and was progressively getting worse. Tomoyo and Meiling had been able to come up with a few remedies to slow the poison's work, but not completely rid of it. If they did not come up with a cure within a few days, Sakura would become a vampire.

Everyone was helping out to cure Sakura. Tomoyo and Meiling made potions. Syaoran was forced to go out and find herbs with Raiden. Chiharu and Takashi stayed and helped Kero tend to the Haven.

While going out on herb hunts, Syaoran got to know Raiden very well. It was not so much that he _wanted_ to get to know Raiden, but Raiden simply shared his thoughts with the ever quiet Syaoran.

Raiden told Syaoran of his childhood. He reminisced over the time he had had with his sister. When Raiden told how he was accused of killing his sister, Syaoran gained respect for him. He finally decided that he could get along fine with Raiden. Although he did not know it, it would help him very much in the future.

Sakura, herself, was in bad condition. She had unknowingly sent Tomoyo to tears many times that week. Her once fair skin was a chalky white. Her lips and eyelids had deepened to a black shade. The iris of her eye had abnormally expanded, making almost all of her eye green.

At night, Tomoyo had to be forced to return to her living quarters. She worked incredibly hard during the day but would refuse sleep at night…henceforth she was forced into rest. Raiden had no choice but to be strict with her for the sake of her health. Tomoyo made Syaoran promise to stay with Sakura in her stead. At least he could protect the Haven if an enemy decided upon a surprise attack.

For one week, Syaoran sat by Sakura's side during the night. He did not communicate with her in any way; he simply sat and watched over her. At the end of that week though, Syaoran did talk to Sakura. After a week of fruitless searches for a cure, Sakura remained in critical condition. He needed to know if she had any information on a cure. Nobody had asked her yet. He intended to be the first.

Syaoran walked into Sakura's room and sat next to her like he had been doing all week. "Sakura," He said softly, "I know that you know that there is a cure for you. Please tell me what it is."

Sakura's black eyelids rose. "Why do you wish to know?"

"Damn it Sakura, why are you doing this to us…to me? If you let yourself turn into a creature of hell, it would be worse than if you simply died."

Sakura's eyes quickly rose to meet Syaoran's. "You had to ask me."

Syaoran blinked. "What?"

"I could not ask you to get the cure; you had to come to me willingly." Sakura explained. "There is a cure, but it is in a very evil place. Anyone who ventures there risks his own life. I could never ask you to risk your life for my sake."

"I'll do it." Syaoran said. "I'll get the cure. Tell me where it is and I'll get it."

Sakura's hand slowly moved to rest upon Syaoran's. "If you do this, you will have to go alone. Are you willing to do that?"

"I have always been alone." Syaoran said. "This will be no different."

"Alright," Sakura nodded, "I'll tell you. Before I can actually tell you the location of the cure, I'll have to explain to you its history. I want you to fully understand what you're getting into and be able to back out if you should wish."

"Of course," Syaoran said, grasping Sakura's hand.

Sakura let out a small sigh. "My master of magic, Clow, knew an old and very wise wizard when he was young. This wizard had traveled to many placed and learned many things. He wrote everything he learned in a brown, leather-bound book. Because he was a wizard, he could simply add pages or details into the book wherever he wished. Soon, the book held extremely valuable information that many wanted to know.

"The wizard, being so wise, knew that it would not be good for the greedy people to see the book. He cast a spell on the book so that only those with a true cause would be able to open it. He then sent it to a place where no creature or human has good cause, the Vampire's Cave.

"The Vampire's Cave is a wretched place where evil creatures dwell. A vampire used to live in that cave centuries ago, henceforth the name of the cave. What lies in that cave now though, I do not know."

"Where is the Vampire's Cave?" Syaoran asked, not wanting to waste any more time.

"North of here," Sakura replied generally. "I would not be able to explain to you the way. Astroph can guide you there and back again."

Syaoran studied Sakura. "How does Astroph know the way?"

"Do you remember that Raiden's sister had a disease?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran nodded.

"There were others that had the disease as well." Sakura continued. "Their murderer, a wolf in sheep's clothing, secretly tried to take the diseased people to the Vampire's Cave to kill them. He was a wicked man with wicked deeds. He told the poor people that he was taking them to a place where they could be healed. The people, desperate, followed without question.

"The wicked man murdered the people with Raiden's sword. He had been able to convince Raiden's sister to 'borrow' her brother's sword in order to 'help' them. I'm still not sure of what he said that convinced her to do it. Raiden found out what had happened and used Astroph to track down his sister and sword. When he got there, everyone was dead and Raiden was set up looking like a murderer."

Syaoran felt Sakura squeeze his hand a little harder. "Why didn't you and Raiden tell the people of the village this?" He asked.

Sakura laughed bitterly. "Look at me Syaoran. Do you think that the people of the village would listen to the witch girl if they would not listen to Raiden?"

"You didn't even try?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura turned her head away. "I did try…"

"What happened?" Syaoran asked, trying to get the whole story out of her.

Sakura met Syaoran's eyes, but quickly looked away. She wrenched her hand out of his, pushed the covers back, and lifted her tunic to reveal her abdomen.

Syaoran blinked. Across her midsection was a long, white scar. "What did they do to you?"

"There used to be an insane man living here…incredibly sick in the head. He was a relative of Dilbert's, actually." Sakura whispered. "He tried to stick me with his pitchfork."

Syaoran unconsciously traced his fingers down the white scar. "You're better than them, do you know that?"

Sakura didn't say anything. She was afraid to say something that might stop his warm fingers from tracing themselves over her skin. His fingers did stop though, and he reached up and pulled the tunic back down to cover her up.

"Hang on to life Sakura." Syaoran said. "I don't want to come back with the book and have you a vampire."

"Don't worry," Sakura said, pulling a necklace off over her head. It was a glass star encircled in pink crystal. "This heirloom was my mother's." Sakura handed Syaoran the necklace. "I'll want it back."

Syaoran nodded, slipping the necklace over his head. "You won't have to wait long."

With that, Syaoran left the room and went back down to the clearing. He told Raiden of his plan and how he needed to use Astroph. Raiden agreed without question. Tomoyo, who had been listening to the whole thing, brought Syaoran a pack full of supplies. Syaoran thanked her and quickly left for the cave.

In the background, watching all of this, were Chiharu and Takashi. Throughout the past week, they had been doing as much as they could for Sakura. No matter how much they did though, it was never enough for them.

"I wish we could do something more to help her, Takashi." Chiharu said, referring to Sakura.

Takashi sighed and wrapped his arms around Chiharu's waist. "I do too, but we are only able to do so much. We'll have to wait until Syaoran comes back to do anything major."

"I know." Chiharu said, pouting a little. "It's just that…she's done so much for us, I want to do something in return for her."

Takashi smiled. "She is the one who made us, 'us'. Do you remember?"

Chiharu gave Takashi a light shove. "How could I even forget? I remember as if it happened yesterday!"

"Or in our case, two years ago," Takashi said.

"Two years, is that all it's been?" Chiharu asked.

"That's all it's been." Takashi replied.

A sixteen-year old Chiharu Mihara sat in the library, impatiently waiting for Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero to arrive. Save the librarian, Naoko, a girl one year older than herself, she was all alone. She had been waiting for Sakura for nearly twenty minutes.

Finally the door creaked open. Chiharu gave a sigh.

"Finally, I've been waiting for you for twenty…"

Chiharu stopped as she saw who entered the library. It was not Sakura, Tomoyo, or Kero. Instead, it was a boy that Chiharu rather fancied…from a distance anyway.

"Good after Takashi Yamazaki." Naoko greeted with a smile.

"Good afternoon Naoko." Takashi greeted back. He then nodded toward Chiharu. "Good afternoon Miss Chiharu."

Chiharu fought a winning battle to control her blush. "Good afternoon Takashi Yamazaki."

"Just 'Takashi', if you please." Takashi said with a smile. "You have no need to give me formalities."

"But you are of the Land's Army." Chiharu said. "You have been stationed here from afar and are demanded immediate respect."

Takashi simply smiled and shook his head. "Please, I would much rather prefer to be called just 'Takashi'. But on another matter, I must ask you of new news Naoko."

"Ah yes, the books I assume. You want to know if they've arrived, am I correct?" Naoko asked.

Takashi nodded. "Quite correct, Raiden is looking forward to improving his lighting skills."

"Raiden," Chiharu repeated. "Isn't he Clair's older brother? Why are you running an errand for him?"

"Raiden is planning on being the next sorcerer for the Land's Army." Takashi replied, waiting for Naoko to grab the books. "He wants to be able to provide for himself and Clair once their parents die. They're quickly nearing the end of their rope."

"Here you are." Naoko said, setting the books on the counter.

"Thank you Naoko, Miss Chiharu." Takashi gave them each a bow before leaving.

Chiharu's eyes were glued to the door that Takashi had just exited from.

"The young soldier Takashi has an eye for you."

Chiharu was quickly snapped back to reality. "What?" She stared at Naoko, who smiled sweetly.

"He is very affectionate toward you, it is apparent in his eyes." Naoko said pleasantly as if she could have been discussing something as simple as a book.

"I think you are mistaken, Naoko." Chiharu said, her cheeks coloring. "Takashi Yamazaki is simply polite to me."

Naoko shrugged and turned back to her books. "If you insist so,"

Before Chiharu could respond, Tomoyo, Kero, and Sakura entered the library. They came in laughing and quite cheerful. Although none of them knew it, these were easy time in Tomoeda. The townspeople were still neutral toward Sakura and did not persecute her.

"I've been waiting for twenty minutes." Chiharu said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.

"Terribly sorry, Chiharu dear," Sakura said cheerfully, "we were running on time until _Kero_ decided to hold us back."

"What?" Kero asked, looking innocent. "I told you not to make anything sweet this morning. Don't tell me I didn't warn you!"

"But you _didn't_ warn us." Tomoyo pointed out.

"No matter, you should know me well enough by now." Kero said.

"Could someone _please_ tell me why I've been waiting here for so long?" Chiharu pleaded.

Sakura put her hand to her cheek and smiled. "Well, we knew that Takashi Yamazaki would be arriving at eleven thirty today to pick up some magic books..."

"Wait one second!" Chiharu interrupted, her eyes wide. "Do you mean to tell me that you _purposely_ arrived late?"

"Now you've got it." Sakura said delightedly.

Chiharu inaudibly opened and closed her mouth. "How-how could you do that? _Why_ did you do that?"

"Don't tell us you don't know." Tomoyo said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Know what?" Chiharu asked, crossing her arms.

"He fancies you." Sakura said.

Chiharu gaped. "Why does everyone think this? I hardly even know that youth!"

"It's quite obvious how he feels, Chiharu dear." Tomoyo said. "Even if he only shows it on rare occasion,"

"Yeah, and besides," Kero started, "Naoko was the one who came up with the plan."

"Naoko?" Chiharu cried. She turned toward the counter that Naoko had mysteriously disappeared from. "I'll get her for this."

"We're gong to lunch now, Chiharu." Sakura said. "Are you going to come along?"

"Sure, why not?" Chiharu mumbled.

The group went out to lunch and continued to walk around town. Afterward, the group went to an old woman named Madoka, a lady whom Meiling sometimes stayed with. They were volunteering to help pick the oranges off of her trees since she was no longer quite as capable.

The girls all pulled on gloves and grabbed baskets and stepping stools before heading out of the orchard. The day was beautiful with a cool breeze that carried the ripe scent of oranges. Each of the three girls divided up the orchard into three sections from which they would pick.

Chiharu started her orange picking at the top of a hill. The hill sloped downward away from Madoka's cottage. Chiharu started to fill up her basket. Once it got full, there was a large wooden box every few rows that she could dump the oranges in. Chiharu had been working for about two hours. She had gone through all the trees on the top of the hill. Now it was time for the difficult part.

Chiharu carefully placed her stepping stool on the unbalanced part of the hill where it began to slope downward. She cautiously stepped onto the stool. It was sturdy enough and didn't wobble. Chiharu was doing just fine until she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach a ripe orange that was high up in the tree. The stepping stool wobbled and flew out from underneath Chiharu's feet.

Chiharu saw everything go slow. The orange slowly became further from her outstretched hand. She felt herself slowly falling and tried to twist her body around. Chiharu landed on her kneecap, dislocating it. She cried out from the pain and felt herself being launched up from the force of impact and sent tumbling down the small hill, pulling many of the muscles in her right leg.

Back at the cottage, Takashi was standing outside, talking to Madoka. He had just delivered her a package from Clair. They were having a nice chat when Takashi though he heard a scream.

"Did you hear that Madoka?" Takashi asked. "I thought I heard a scream.

Madoka clasped her hands over her mouth. "It might have been one of my girls. Three girls volunteered to help pick my oranges. You know Tomoyo, Sakura, and Chiharu, don't you?"

Takashi's eyes widened at Chiharu's name. "I'll go see if anything happened."

"Please do," Madoka said, watching Takashi's retreating figure.

Back in the orange orchard, Chiharu was trying to pull herself up. She was in such pain that she could barely manage it. If she lay completely still, it didn't hurt quite as much. She vaguely though she heard someone approaching her.

"Madoka, Sakura, Tomoyo, Kero…is that you?" Chiharu called out.

"Miss Chiharu, are you alright?"

Chiharu blushed at the sound of the voice. She could not believe that he actually happened to be in the orchard. Tomoyo and Sakura would be laughing once she told them.

"I've hurt my leg." Chiharu called.

Takashi's form appeared at the top of the small hill. Actually, now that Chiharu thought about it, its slope wasn't steep at all. It was a freak accident that she was able to get injured this badly.

All thoughts of hills flew from the teen's mind as the young soldier came flying to her side. As soon as Takashi was kneeling at her side, she became embarrassed by thoughts of what her friends would say.

"Which leg is it?" Takashi asked, his hands hovering over the bottom half of her dress.

Chiharu blushed like mad when she realized what he was gong to do.

"It's that one." Chiharu whispered, pointing to her right leg.

Takashi gently placed his hands on Chiharu's leg. Although it was strictly to help her, he still fought to hold his blush. "Do you give me permission to examine it?"

Chiharu nodded, not trusting her voice to work properly at the moment. She vaguely watched as Takashi lifted up the ends of her dress to reveal two, black clad, slim legs.

Takashi swallowed. Although the leg appeared slightly swollen and the kneecap was out of place, the thoughts that were going through his mind would have suggested otherwise. The older teen shook his head. Concentrate on fixing her leg, not running your hands down it!

"I'm gong to have to push your kneecap back into place." Takashi said, his hands resting on her patella bone. "It's going to hurt."

"Okay," Chiharu replied, biting her lip.

Takashi readied his hands. "On one…two…three,"

Chiharu dug her hands into the earth to brace herself. When Takashi pushed her pushed her patella bone back into place, there was a sharp pain, but it wasn't as bad as she expected.

"Are you alright Chiharu?" Takashi asked concernedly.

Chiharu managed a weak smile. "I'm fine now, thanks Takashi."

Takashi gaped a moment. "That's the first time you've called me that without my request."

Chiharu blushed. "Yes, I know."

A moment went by before Takashi was able to gather his wits.

"Do you think you can stand?"

"I guess we'll see." Chiharu said, pushing herself up.

She managed to stand, but collapsed under the pressure on her swollen knee. She would have fallen to the ground if Takashi hadn't caught her. His arms caught her around the waist and brought her close to him.

Chiharu gripped at his chest to steady herself. As soon as she became aware of her closeness to Takashi, she blushed for the thousandth time that day. She could not _believe_ the way things were turning out. If she found out, after all of this, that Sakura, Tomoyo, and Naoko were behind this, she wouldn't be surprised.

"I'm going to have to carry you back to Madoka's cottage. Is that alright?" Takashi asked.

"Yes, it's fine." Chiharu said quietly.

It wasn't as if she could or would refuse him. Even if she _hadn't_ wanted him to carry her, what other option would she have had? But she _did _want him to carry her. In a strange way, she found this entire day very romantic.

Takashi placed one hand on her back, one hand under her knees, and lifted Chiharu as if she were nothing. He carried her up the hill, she gripping his shirt the whole way.

As they came in view of the cottage, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero were seen standing by Madoka. Chiharu couldn't help but notice that none of them looked too concerned. If anything, they looked rather bored.

"Chiharu, are you alright?" Sakura asked, running up to the couple.

The look on Sakura's face was concern, but Chiharu could see her eyes laughing at the current situation.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Chiharu grumbled.

"I was so _worried_, dear." Madoka cried, attempting to hug Chiharu.

Chiharu felt extremely uncomfortable in the hug. In the background, she didn't miss Kero's snickers. Her face began to burn from embarrassment and anger.

"Why don't you take her inside, Yamazaki?" Tomoyo suggested innocently.

Chiharu sent Tomoyo a glare, who in turn, ignored it.

"Yes Tomoyo, that's a good idea." Madoka agreed. "Take her inside, Yamazaki."

Tomoyo and Sakura grinned widely as they watched Chiharu being carried inside. It was amazing how everything was working out so perfectly…in their opinion.

"You wouldn't happen to have done anything, now would you have?" Kero asked from Tomoyo's pocket.

"Well, we might have had _something_ to do with Takashi Yamazaki coming to Madoka's." Sakura said.

"Yes, but we had nothing to do with her clumsiness." Tomoyo said.

Kero shook his head as both girls giggled. He should have figured. Clow always said that teenage girls, especially sixteen-year old ones, only thought of boys and matchmaking.

Chiharu was forced to reside in one of Madoka's spare rooms for the rest of the day. Takashi saw her later that day, bringing her bouquets of flowers. Slowly, her anger at Sakura and Tomoyo subsided. Actually, she felt grateful to them, but she would never say so.

Takashi soon began taking Chiharu on long walks by the beach…as Tomoyo and Sakura had suggested he should. On one particular occasion, he took Chiharu to the beach during twilight. She tried to pry his reasons out of him, but was unable to.

"Takashi, you've told me about three possibilities as to why we're here this late, and none are remotely true." Chiharu said, stubbornly not giving up at trying to get the information out of him.

"I can give you many more reasons and possibilities, Chiharu." Takashi replied good-naturedly.

"Yes, but how many of them would be true?"

"_One_ would, the rest would simply benefit your entertainment…or temper."

"It'll be the latter then."

Takashi stopped Chiharu and took her hands in his own. "But I _will_ tell you the real reason now. Otherwise you probably won't believe me."

Chiharu gulped. There was sultriness in his voice that she had never heard before. What _was_ he planning on doing? She was dying and yet dreading to hear it.

Takashi began to stroke the side of Chiharu's face. "Chiharu…I'm not sure how you'll react, but…"

Chiharu's face was heating up and her knees got weak. She really, really, _really_, hoped that he would kiss her.

"Chiharu…I-I love you."

Chiharu was stricken. He loved her? He _loved_ her. That meant that he wanted to hold her, protect her, and…kiss her.

Takashi smiled dryly at Chiharu's silence and stricken look. "Obviously though, you weren't ready to hear it."

Chiharu blinked.

"What?"

"You obviously aren't ready to love me back."

"Kiss me."

Now it was Takashi's turn to be stricken. He gaped at the girl he loved, who was now gazing eagerly at him. Was her answer equivalent to 'I love you too'?

"You said that you loved me, didn't you?" Chiharu asked eagerly. "Now kiss me."

Takashi continued to gape. "I was waiting to see if you loved me too. I didn't want to kiss you if you didn't love me!"

"Takashi…" Chiharu trailed, tilting her head. "Of _course_ I love you. Why else would I let you spend so much time with me?"

She stepped close to Takashi. The both of them became shallow in breathing. Chiharu took Takashi's hands and put them on her waist. She wrapped her own arms around his waist, drawing him to her.

"Now would be a _really_ good time to kiss me." Chiharu whispered.

Takashi wasted no time inclining to her offer. He kissed her, just like she had asked. It was a very new experience, one he quickly figured that he liked.

OVOVOV

Syaoran climbed up the rocky mountain. Astroph was perched on a rock at the top, patiently waiting for the foreign boy's arrival. He was almost to the top.

Syaoran finally stepped up to the level ground of top of the mountain. He breathed deeply, taking in the surroundings. The light, night breeze ruffled his messy hair as well as Astroph's feathers. The hawk flew over and landed on Syaoran's shoulder.

Astroph gave a small cry and flapped his wings. Syaoran looked down. He saw a small area where many rocks were overhanging a pit, causing almost all of it to be covered in shadow. Although it was difficult to see, there was an unmistakable opening to the mouth of a cave.

Syaoran gripped Sakura's necklace. "It's time Astroph. We must go into the Vampire's Cave and get that book. Sakura has been the kindest person to us beside our family in our lives. We can't let her die. We need to help her fight this battle she's waging."

With that, Syaoran made his way to the couth of the Vampire's Cave.

"_Master, now would be a wise time to intervene."_

"_Perhaps, but let's see what he'll do."_

"_Please don't tell me this is all simply for entertainment purposes."_

"_Oh no, it's extremely serious. It's just interesting to watch._

VictorianPearl: Yep, I typed most of this today. I hope you like it. Please review to let me know what you think will happen.

Sakura: And make sure to check below the profile for frequent updates. Mostly information about when what chapters will be posted and when.

VictorianPearl: For a quick question and answer:

**Stephi23: **About the two people you mentioned at the end of your review. Yes, I have some nice plans for them. #smiles wickedly#

**CherryIzzy: **Thanks for the nice review, I'm glad to see you like the story.


	5. The Two Wars

VictorianPearl: Disclaimers are obvious and comments are at the end of the chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 5 The Two Wars

The evening was dark and cold. A chill wind bit through the makeshift tent on the damp, grassy field. The air carried cold moisture in droplets. The evening was anything but quiet.

Below the already glowing moon, many commotions were taking place in their own areas. Although those causing the commotions should have been weary, they were awake and alert. A rough wind shook the flaps of the tents.

In one said tent, two men sat, writing letters to their loved ones. The first man was very handsome. He had tan skin and a well built figure. He had black hair and black eyes that held endless emotion and abyss. Many fair ladies pouted at the fact that the only maiden he paid special attention to was his younger sister. It was she that he was writing to at the moment.

The other young man, slouching opposite the handsome man, was very opposite his best friend. He could only be described as beautiful, and beautiful he was. He was extremely fair and had a slim form. He had silvery-white hair and brown eyes behind a pair of round spectacles. The fair ladies did not usually look at him, for he almost always stood beside the handsome man. He also, like the handsome man, was writing to his younger sibling, except that his sibling was a brother, not a sister.

A light pattering began to resound off of the tent. A light rain was falling on the camp sight. The two men in the said tent began to hasten their efforts to finish their letters. They did not want their younger siblings to be unable to decipher what they had written because of smeared ink…yet another reason to add to the commotion.

"Done," The handsome man proclaimed, fanning his letter, "I had to really compact my writing to make it all fit."

"Same here," The beautiful man agreed, "I'm sure we'll effectively make Kero and Sakura both happy and worried."

"You've got that right." The handsome man said, frowning. "We won a large battle today, but…"

"We'll need help for the final onslaught, when it comes." The beautiful man finished.

"We've lasted this long, we'll just need to last a bit longer."

A silence, save the pattering rain, washed over the said tent. The handsome man was named Touya. He was Sakura's older brother. He was extremely strong willed and hopeful. He had left for the army when the war between Hikari and Tomoeda had begun, leaving his beloved little sister in the care of her best friend and Kero. He had decided that it was better to enroll freely over the possibility of being forced to fight later on.

The beautiful man was known as Yukito. He had a second being living within him named Yue. Yue had long silver hair, blue eyes, and white angel wings. During battle, Yue would usually take over. Yukito had a younger brother, Kero…who was actually Yue's brother, but was considered brother by Yukito non-the-less. Yukito enrolled in the army with his best friend, Touya. It had been a few years since the war started. The worst part of it was that their visits home were short and few.

There had been a victory over a fairly large battle earlier that day. The fight had been valiant, they lost few and gained much…in terms of men and land. The beasts were slightly more vicious this time, as they always were, but the men had had incredible energy. They drove the enemy further east than they had hoped. The men had returned to their tents in good spirits and with high hopes that the war might actually end soon.

"So," Yukito started, "how long will our celebration last this time?"

"The same as it does every time." Touya replied, placing a fresh seal on the envelope containing his sister's letter. "We relax and talk good-naturedly tonight. In the morning, it's back to battle."

Yukito placed his own sealed letter aside. "You really _should_ relax a little longer than simply one night. You push yourself harder than anyone."

"Perhaps," Touya agreed, "but _you_ could push yourself and easily move up from the position 'soldier' to a much higher ranking. Why don't you take the opportunity?"

Yukito chuckled. "But then I'd be leaving you behind."

"But I would be letting my guard down."

"Alright, argument ended. After all, we're supposed to be celebrating."

The two men smiled mutually. Soon though, their gazes were turned back to their letters.

"I'm always so busy strategizing that I hardly allow myself a chance to miss her." Touya murmured.

Yukito nodded. "But perhaps it's better than being eaten away by the loss."

"Yes, perhaps it is."

OVOVOV

Syaoran stepped down into the mouth of the cave. He had a fire talisman alight in his hand. Astroph was perched outside of the cave, patiently awaiting his return. Syaoran was now alone in the cave…or at least he hoped he was. He didn't want to have to fight monsters at the moment. His goal was to be able to get the book and get back to the haven by morning. If he had to fight, Sakura would have to wait.

The fire talisman was lifted high in the air with Syaoran's left hand while his sword was drawn with his right. The cave was like no other he had ever been in before…not that he had been in many. The whole place had a ghastly look about it.

The walls appeared to be slick with slime that glistened eerily in the fire's glow. The ground was rather flat with black earth. The ceiling had jagged rocks protruding from it. There were many recesses, nooks, and tunnels that were seeped with a darkness that the fire could not penetrate. The sound of empty wind echoed all around, sending a chill down Syaoran's spine.

'_That wizard had had the right mind in picking a spot for the book where no one would want to go. It doesn't seem dangerous yet, but I'm sure there's something particularly nasty waiting for me deeper inside.'_

Syaoran breathed in the musky air. He had left his pack outside with Astroph, making his mission do-or-die. The pack was a hindrance when it came to trying to move freely and swiftly. Then again, if he somehow became wounded and was in need of the pack or its contents, he would probably be a dead man.

It was far too late to think of such things now though. From this moment on, pure concentration was needed. And so Syaoran continued his way, maneuvering into the black tunnels.

OVOVOV

Books were everywhere, scattered and out of place. On one table, only little more than a dozen books lay. On the other ten or so tables, books were overflowing. It seemed as if almost all of the books had been taken off of their shelves.

The shelves in the library that were almost completely void of their books were the Remedy section, the Magical Herb section, the Unknown Creatures section, and the Poisons section. If anyone were to have wanted a book from any of the said sections, the word 'impossible' would have been relevant.

It was late at night and many candles were burning low. There was nobody outside of the building that wanted to see the library tables overflowing with books. If there _were_ anyone outside and they wanted in, the firmly locked doors would have been answer enough. At the moment, no amount of knocking, yelling, threatening, or begging, would cause those doors to budge.

The young librarian, Naoko, had actually been keeping the doors tightly locked for the past week. As soon as Sakura's fate had reached her ears, she immediately began an expedition through her library, searching for a cure. The term _expedition_ was no exaggeration either. Naoko was usually extremely tidy and gentle when it came to her books, but she had been ripping through them the past week.

Not a book in any of the said sections had gone un-looked through. Although, Naoko had only flipped through a few volumes she knew held no valuable information before quickly replacing them. Any books that did hold some…_any_ information that might have been in some way valuable were triple checked. Naoko would then proceed to jot down all of the information in (what used to be) an empty notebook. After searching all of the books once, the young librarian proceeded to check all of the books again, also checking to make sure she had written down the information.

The townspeople hardly gave notice to the librarian or her library. They still had not completely recovered from the shock with the monsters. Likewise, Naoko did not notice the townspeople, or give them any thought at all. In her mind, they may as well have participated in giving Sakura the illness for all of the care and thought they had. If she had taken any notice at all though, which she did not, she might have admitted that they had gained some, even if only an inkling, of brains.

Naoko, now, was incredibly frustrated. There was absolutely _nothing_ that gave any hint at all to what the cure of vampire's poison was. There wasn't even a small scrap or piece of information that even started to provide a recipe at all. Even though Naoko saw nothing, she was _sure_ that she had read of a cure somewhere before.

With the thought that she had indeed read something of a cure somewhere, Naoko proceeded to research in some sections that seemed a little unlikely, but might have held something key. She also checked through some of the more morbid books that she kept on dusty shelves in the deepest part of the library.

None of it made sense, she was sure she had read something about a cure and she was positive it had been in that very library. She had checked the status and nobody was borrowing a book from any of the said sections she had been combing through. One might have said that there might have been a miscalculation, but not with Naoko.

It was right after Fuijitaka's death that Naoko had become ensnared with the subject. It was more of _it_ choosing _her_, rather than _her_ choosing _it_. At the time, being only ten, she had been the elderly librarian's assistant. She was a child fascinated with the magical and unbelievable. She had only been able to hear all of the odd stories circling Sakura and her loved ones, she had never actually seen anything. She felt slightly guilty about feeling curiosity towards Fuijitaka's death, but the elderly librarian, Milly, had said that it was only natural, especially considering the area of location.

Henceforth, Naoko went through a phase where everything she read had to have something to do with vampires. She was so young then, she didn't know that a cure to a vampire's poison was information extremely hard to come by. Had she not been so naïve then, she would have brought the newfound information to Milly at once for special reference. But Naoko had been naïve and kept her mouth shut, thinking nothing of it. After all, vampires had never been any problem of Tomoeda's until the events of Fuijitaka and Clow Reed.

Naoko gave a huff and buried her head in the book that she was looking through. Her head was incredibly sore from the inside out. She had been trying so hard to think of that stupid book that she had looked through that it was driving her insane. Time and time again she had to force herself to settle down and take a break. She was over thinking everything.

The overexerted librarian propped herself up with one of her hands to her cheek, her elbow digging into the open book. She glanced down at her notebook, reading some of the lines she had copied. For some odd reason, her eyes kept reading over one of the lines continuously. She could not explain as to why her eyes kept roaming over that line.

Naoko had read over the line again and was about to go get herself some tea when she froze. Of course, that was it! How could she have been so incredibly _stupid_? She had been searching so deep when the answer was right on the surface. She hadn't _read_ about the cure, she had figured it out.

Naoko leaned back with wide eyes and deep breaths. All thoughts of tea breaks had been snuffed out. She would have to do some researching in her mind and notebook to figure this all out before it was too late.

OVOVOV

Syaoran cursed softly into the surrounding darkness. He wasn't sure how long he had been wandering the tunnels, but for him, it was too long. It seemed as if he had passed by these rocks a hundred times already, going in endless circles. Turning back now, even if he had wanted to, was seemingly impossible.

A new idea entered Syaoran's mind. Perhaps he could close his eyes for a while and feel his way through the tunnels. He had yet to see anything alive and he was already hopelessly lost. What did he have to lose?

The talisman was temporarily extinguished, causing Syaoran to be swallowed in the darkness. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind before placing a hand against the slick wall. It was slimy and cool, sliding between his fingers. The feeling was odd, but not revolting.

Hesitantly, Syaoran took a step forward. Although the ground was flat, he still prodded his feet out precariously, just in case. He counted in his mind and moved slowly and steadily along the slimy tunnels. When he reached two hundred, he stopped and opened his eyes. The incredible darkness was the first thing to meet Syaoran's eyes. He lit the talisman in front of himself. He looked around, almost approvingly at the new scenery.

Syaoran was now in a dome shaped area. The ceiling glistened blue and purple with crystals. The fire's glow sent odd reflections and waves of light throughout the area. It felt as if waves of evil auras were washing over Syaoran. He felt slightly disgusted with the way it was all making him feel.

Taking a few steps away from the wall, Syaoran carefully examined the entire perimeter. There was something out there, near by, but he didn't know what, nor did he want to know. He briskly walked around the room. He couldn't tell what the evil aura was, or where, exactly, but he could definitely _feel_ the book's presence.

Syaoran paced around the room. When he had imagined the book, he thought it would have been out in the open. Hiding it made much more sense though. He began to look in the dark recesses and crevasses. It didn't take too long before he saw a fairly suspicious scene. There was a large rock in a recess that looked extremely suspicious.

Taking a step back, Syaoran planted his sword into the ground. He pulled out a talisman of light and threw it at the rock. Syaoran chanted softly, causing the talisman to glow. Soon, a blinding flash of light was sent throughout the perimeter. When the light passed and the darkness settled in again, the rock was gone and a book lay in its place.

Syaoran stepped forward and grabbed the book, placing it under his left arm. He grabbed his sword with his right hand and turned around. Syaoran froze at the sight that greeted him. Standing on the other side of the hollow, was Lestat.

Lestat grinned wickedly. "Hello, foreign boy, what brings ye here?"

Syaoran glared at the vampire. "Tell your pathetic master that if he wants anything done, he'll have to do it himself. I'm leaving and you won't be getting in my way."

This only prompted the vampire to chuckle. "You misunderstand me. I don't plan to fight you at all. In fact, _we_ plan to catch you and suck you of all your blood."

Syaoran frowned. What did Lestat mean by '_we''_? The question did not go unanswered for very long. Out of the shadows stepped three more vampires, gazes cast at Syaoran with hungry eyes. He silently cursed as he saw the vampires spread their wings. The cave was living up to its name.

"After we kill you, we're gong to take a new vampire-pink blossom to Hikari. We'll enjoy watching her die." Lestat said. "Start running."

Syaoran threw a talisman up into the air.

"Light,"

A blinding flash of light lit the area again, but Syaoran was running in the opposite direction. He deactivated his sword and pulled it over his neck. He held his fire talisman in front of him with his right hand and gripped the book under his left arm. He vaguely heard the vampire's screeches behind him.

The tunnel was ever twisting and Syaoran was running on fear. He needed to get out quickly. The vampires probably knew the caves extremely well. If they caught up to him, they would be able to trap him. He pumped his legs, making them go faster. The creatures behind him could probably fly a hell of a lot faster than he could run.

Shrieks were echoing close behind him, closer now than before. He threw another light talisman behind himself. Shouts of pain told him it had worked. He would have to think fast though; it wouldn't work a third time.

In his fear and haste, Syaoran tripped and went flying forward. The book skidded far up the tunnel. He scrambled up and caught the book up in his hand, staggering to get his pace up again. Any time he had gained by using the light talismans was gone.

Syaoran could distinctly hear the flapping of wings. He forced his muscles to work faster, ignoring the burning sensation in his thighs and calves. Complete and utter fear for his life, and Sakura's demise, sent him his energy now. He couldn't die now; he still had to save Sakura as well as his mother. He was the only one; he could not let himself be killed.

A dim, circular shape of blue reached Syaoran's eyes. He recognized it as the mouth of the cave. With a final burst of speed, he dove out of the entrance. The vampires flew high into the night, circling and coming back down. Syaoran grabbed his pack, Astroph behind him. He ran and jumped off of the mountain.

"Wind," Syaoran cried hoarsely, throwing a wind talisman underneath him.

A zephyr burst forth from the talisman and safely carried Syaoran down the mountain. When the current faded, he dropped to his feet and kept running, Astroph in the lead. Now that he was outside and in the cover of the forest, he felt less afraid.

Syaoran was growing weary. It had been extremely long and difficult just to get _up_ the mountain, not to mention the journey there. He had wandered the Vampire's Cave for a couple of hours at least, all the while, using his magic for fire. To top it off with this hard running and the zephyr down the mountain, he would have to stop for sleep soon.

Spinning around, Syaoran had a talisman ready. He watched as the four vampires flew down at him, full speed. Syaoran used the last burst of his magical energy to send an attachment talisman to one of Lestat's chums. The talisman burned the vampire with light. After a horrifying cry, the vampire burst into dust.

The other two of Lestat's chums turned and flew off, shrieking all the way. Lestat stopped and hovered a few yards from Syaoran. Syaoran tried to keep his breathing light as to hide his utter exhaustion.

"You'll pay for that." Lestat spat. "Go and save your precious blossom now. You and I will have our fight later."

Syaoran watched as Lestat flew off. As soon as the vampire was out of sight, he collapsed. Astroph flew over to his shoulder, giving a low cry. Syaoran stroked the hawk's feathers, letting his eyes droop a little. His breathing was deep and fast.

"Well Astroph, we got the book." Syaoran mumbled.

Astroph gave a cry in response to the young man from Yen. Syaoran though, didn't hear it. He had fallen against the tree in a deep sleep.

OVOVOV

Meiling carefully watched the potion she was brewing. It was another temporary fix for Sakura. She prayed that Syaoran would get back as fast as possible. Ever since he had left, Sakura's condition seemed, if possible, to get worse.

Meiling reached for a ladle next to the cauldron. Her hands were shaking so bad that she dropped the object.

"Meiling, are you alright?"

It was Raiden. He strode forward and picked up the ladle, giving a stir to the potion. Meiling saw his action and put her hands to her face.

"I don't think I can last too much longer, Raiden. I don't know what's up or down any more."

Raiden glanced at Meiling, setting the ladle back down. "Don't talk like that." He whispered.

"I'm sorry; I'm just so scared and tired. I can't think." Meiling's voice was shaking.

"Meiling," Raiden said, stepping nearer, "just calm down, it will be alright."

"It won't!" Meiling cried, slamming her fists into Raiden's chest. "She's gotten so bad…Sakura. Syaoran's not back yet. Hikari's thrusting the game into motion…I'm not sure I can take it. I'm going to break!"

"No Meiling." Raiden said, firmly taking her hands in his and pulling her to him. "You can't break now, not when we need you the most."

Meiling looked up into Raiden's stormy blue eyes with her own crystal ones. "I don't want to break." She started slowly. "I need your help though. I can't do it alone."

Raiden nodded, distinctly aware of how close they were. Right now, he was ready to do anything to calm this incredible maiden in his arms. He might have been being selfish, but he couldn't help it, he wanted to now what her lips felt like.

Raiden was leaning in close now. Meiling melted into his chest and closed her eyes. She wanted this in so many ways that she would never know. Raiden's lips slowly came down, just over her own.

At that moment, Naoko came bursting into the Haven, causing Meiling and Raiden to push apart. They watched the breathless Naoko, trying to ignore their own red faces.

"I've got it! I found out the ingredients for the cure!" Naoko declared.

"W-what?" Meiling sputtered, trying to get her mind back on track.

Naoko was already searching through the cabinets. "I found out what we need to make the cure!" She slapped a paper down onto the nearest table.

"So you know how to make the cure?" Raiden asked hopefully, coming forward to examine the list.

Naoko shook her head, grabbing ingredients from the cabinets. "I don't know _how_ to make it; I just know _what_ is needed to make it. We still need the book from Syaoran for the recipe. We can still get ahead before he returns though."

Meiling came to and took the list from Raiden. She examined it thoroughly and smiled. All of the ingredients that were listed could be found in Neo-Clow's Haven's cabinets. All of her previous problems had been erased. Raiden was right, it would be alright.

OVOVOV

VictorianPearl: I hope you all like this chapter.

Syaoran: Especially after what I had to go through.

VictorianPearl: Yes sweety, we know. This chapter was shorter than the other chapters, but I felt like I was pushing a lot of information down your throats. Now for a quick question and answer.

**Stephi23: **Thanks for the review. Yes, there will be much of those people that you keep mentioning. I'm trying to answer you and be inconspicuous. X.X


	6. The Sleeping Shadow

VictorianPearl: Disclaimers are obvious and comments (and q and a) are at the end of the chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 6 The Sleeping Shadow

When Syaoran awoke, it was fairly early in the morning. He took some food and his water pouch from his pack for a breakfast. He ate at a paced speed and started his way back to the Haven as soon as he was finished.

For most of the journey, Astroph remained perched on Syaoran's shoulder. The foreign boy generally recognized some of the way back. Every once in a while though, the intelligent hawk would float in front of him, guiding him back.

The old book with the words, _The Ancient Book of Lore_, on its cover, remained firmly clasped in Syaoran's hand. With Syaoran's free hand, he gripped the crystal necklace that was Sakura's. He couldn't explain it, but it had such a gentle aura to it.

After a while, Astroph went a flutter and soared through the trees. Syaoran guessed that they were nearly to their destination. He started off with a light jog, his muscles still sore from the previous day's events.

Syaoran had little distance to go before he burst into the clearing that was Neo-Clow's Haven. He paused to catch his breath and stare at the sight before him.

Everyone in the Haven was standing and gazing expectantly at him. The cauldron in the middle of the Haven stood empty and unlit. On the tables, many odd ingredients were crowded. However Syaoran had expected to be greeted when he returned, it wasn't like this.

"Have you got the book?" Raiden asked expectantly.

Syaoran glared. This was how he was greeted? No questioning his health, physically or mentally, no caring comments, they had no clue of the hell he went through.

"Of course I got the book." Syaoran snapped, striding forward and setting it on a small empty space on a table.

"We knew that you would." Tomoyo replied, smiling at Syaoran.

Syaoran released the clasp on the book. It easily swung open to reveal brown, slightly crinkled, pages. He quickly thumbed through the pages, searching for the cure. It took only a few moments before he came across it.

"Let me take a look." Naoko said, coming to stand next to Syaoran. She quickly skimmed over the ingredients. "Yes, my calculations were correct. We found all of the proper ingredients."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow at Naoko, but said nothing. He didn't know how she would have been able to find out about the information, but it explained why there were so many things on the tables. He had long since learned that anything was possible, however unlikely it seemed.

"Read me the recipe once over, Syaoran. After that, read it very slowly so that we may get everything set up." Naoko said instructionally.

Syaoran did as she said, reading the directions once, very carefully. Naoko closed her eyes and listened, evaluating everything that was being read. Her eyelids fluttered a little before she opened them.

"Alright, read me the prep again, very slowly." Naoko told Syaoran, positioning herself near the cauldron.

Syaoran did as Naoko said, knowing it would be easier to follow her instructions. The young librarian constantly ran between the cauldron and Syaoran, double checking the book. The other members of the Haven tried to help, but they were gently pushed aside. Naoko knew that the making of the cure was extremely complicated, and if anything were to go wrong, _she_ wanted it to be her own fault, not someone else's mistake.

On the sidelines, the residence of the Haven watched apprehensively. The young women were clasping their hands and pulling at their skirts. They would all jump whenever the cauldron made small explosions, which Naoko assured were completely normal.

Syaoran had taken a comfortable seat in one of the wooden chairs. Despite sleeping many hours the night before, his mind was still spinning. He was so anxious for all of this to be done and have Sakura healthy. It took an effort for him to remain calm and patient, but Syaoran managed it.

After a rather hectic hour, Naoko finally added the last ingredient. To Syaoran, it seemed a liquid made of pure sugar was being tipped into the cauldron. With the added ingredient, the cauldron glowed a shade of teal. Syaoran gulped, seeing the stricken look on Naoko's face.

"That was the correct ingredient, wasn't it, Naoko?" Syaoran asked cautiously.

Naoko waited a few seconds before gracing Syaoran's question with an answer. "Yes, it was the correct ingredient, it just turned a more vivid shade than I expected."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Tomoyo asked apprehensively.

"It's a normal thing." Naoko replied coolly, dipping a ladle into the cauldron and pouring the teal liquid into a goblet. "Are you ready to take this to Sakura?"

Nobody replied verbally. Everyone jumped up and followed Naoko to the oak tree with a door. They followed her through the ballroom, up the stairs, and into the tree house. When they entered Sakura's room, Syaoran was surprised to see the drastic change in Sakura's appearance.

Sakura's skin was as white as a dove's feathers. There were deep purple circles under her eyes and she looked unhealthily skinny. Syaoran could tell by her uneven breathing that they were very close to losing her.

"Sakura, wake up." Tomoyo said, gently rubbing the sides of her face.

Sakura's eyebrows knitted before she opened her eyes. "Tomoyo...?" She asked in a voice that sounded like formed air.

"We've got the cure Sakura; you've got to drink it." Naoko coaxed gently.

"Is…is Syaoran alive? Did he make it back alive?" Sakura asked, looking groggily up into Naoko's face.

"Yes, I made it, Sakura." Syaoran said, coming forward and taking Sakura's hand.

Sakura closed her eyes and exhaled. She was obviously relieved that he hadn't killed himself trying to save her.

"Bottom's up," Naoko said, tipping the goblet to Sakura's lips.

Once the goblet had been drained and removed from Sakura's lips, it was amazing to see the instant effects. Almost immediately, Sakura's complexion came back, pink and healthy looking. The dark circles under her eyes lifted and her breathing evened.

Syaoran felt the young sorceress's hand go limp in his own.

"Is she healed now?" He questioned.

Naoko nodded, having a sigh of relief along with everyone else. "Yes, what she needs now is sleep, and lots of it. The same goes for everyone else."

"Yes, that's all well and true," Meiling started, "but some of us have a couple of questions."

"Questions…?" Naoko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Meiling said, "first, how did you figure out what was needed to complete the cure? Some people have spent quite a bit of their personal time trying to figure it out, where you seem to have figured it out over night. Explain."

Naoko sighed, closing her eyes. "I'm really not completely sure on how I actually figured out the geometrics of it, if you will say. It was really late at night and I was randomly going through all of the possible options in my head. I had once heard Clow mention something briefly about it, which gave me a huge lead.

"At first, I thought I had read about it somewhere before. I soon realized though, that I had figured out the problem in my head a very long time ago. I would have dismissed the thought as desperate and irregular, if the situation itself had not been both desperate and irregular.

"I researched through my head and through some old and gruesome books that I had been given. My mind was on a mental roll. Everything fit together."

"You're a genius Naoko." Takashi said, patting her shoulder.

"Not a genius, just well educated." Naoko countered.

"Whatever," Chiharu said, "we all know that you were the smartest thing since Clow. This only proves our point."

Naoko blushed and mumbled thanks.

"You make it sound so easy though." Tomoyo commented.

"It took a week of research with two hour sleeping periods each night before I actually even came to the realization that I knew it."

"What about _you_, Syaoran?" Raiden asked, turning to the foreign boy.

"Me, I had a difficult time too." Syaoran understated, keeping his eyes on Sakura.

"Enlighten us." Chiharu said, getting comfortable.

And enlighten them, Syaoran did. He gave a very detailed account of his entire journey. Now Syaoran wasn't one for the telling of stories, but with everyone staring at him in open-mouthed awe, he couldn't help himself. At the end of his tale, he gave a very satisfied smirk.

"I can't believe that you actually did it." Takashi said. "Are you aware that absolutely _nobody_ has been able to do that before?"

"Sakura may have mentioned it before." Syaoran said. "I always have had a knack for getting in and out of places I never should have been in the first place."

Tomoyo yawned and Naoko stood. "Alright, we've had our fill of informative stories, I want everyone to go to bed now, you all need a good rest. Yes Syaoran, even you."

The members of the Haven didn't complain. They had spent almost all of the previous night helping Naoko. Syaoran took a chair to put his feet upon. He lounged next to Sakura, wanting to be there when she woke up.

When everyone was retiring to their bed, Raiden was sneaking out of the Haven. Right now, he needed to be alone. He took the long tread home via the smooth country road. He cleared his thoughts and his tired body did not notice the long walk. When he reached his room, he sat on the edge of his bed. Some unsettling memories had been resurfaced.

The Vampire's Cave, that was the place where Clair had been killed. The man who killed her hadn't been found out or justly punished. Thinking of it didn't bring Clair back. Although a culprit had been found, they claimed that Raiden's intentions were still suspicious, and the one they had charged with the crimes had not been the one who committed them.

Raiden put his head in his hands. He blocked the onslaught of memories trying to break through. He was supposed to be sleeping, if he let the memories break through, he wouldn't even be able to lie down.

The morning was late and it almost seemed as if sunshine were peaking through the ever present grey. Sunshine, when was the last time he had seen it? He knew the answer. It hadn't been seen since Clair. The name Clair meant sunny.

The bed creaked as Raiden fell back onto it. He shut his eyes and let his exhaustion take over him. Sleep overtook him, but no dreams came…yet.

The Haven was silent. Up in Sakura's room, Syaoran slept with one ear to everything. You could never be too comfortable. His hand was clasped around Sakura's. In Sakura's hand, was her crystal necklace heirloom. The room was still, dark, and silent. Night was approaching on swift wings.

If someone were to have walked right past the Haven, they would not have known that it was actually housing seven beings. The shadows grew longer and deeper, deep enough for hidden security. Nothing stirred in the deep stillness. It was almost as if time itself had stopped completely.

About ten miles away, Raiden began to have unsettling images appear in his mind. He found himself trapped inside of his mind, unable to wake up or stop what was happening. He tossed and turned in his bed, but alas, it was all in vain. The images appeared faster and more clearly. Blurry images began to take form into brilliant color. There was the deep blue of his sister's eyes, swirling in circles about him.

A moan escaped the sleeping man's mouth. No, he couldn't dream this again. He had to wake up. He had stopped dreaming this a long time ago. He had been so relieved that the nightmare had stopped coming, but it came again. Nothing could stop it, nothing ever did. Raiden couldn't block the visions or turn away. He was forced to watch the unsettling horror again. He had dreamed this before he left to discover his sister dead and continued to dream of it long afterward.

He stood fidgeting as he watched his sister enter his room and silently take his sword from beside his bed where he saw himself sleeping. Although horrified, he couldn't tear his eyes away from his sister. She had been so young and naïve. She had been so desperate. It made his eyes mist.

Clair strapped Raiden's sword around her waist. He golden blonde hair glistened in the moonlight. She seemed so odd in the moonlight. It was the sun that had made her shine. But these simple thoughts left Raiden's head as he watched his sister escape through the door. Her body was shaking from her incurable sickness.

She fled into the night and climbed onto the back of a horse with difficulty. She nudged the horse with her heels and they went speeding off, her blonde hair flying wildly behind her. Too soon for Raiden's liking, they were in the forest near the base of the mountain. A figure cloaked in black waited for them with a crowd of other sick villagers behind them.

"Did you get the sword Clair?" The figure asked.

Clair nodded. "Ai, I did."

"Well then give it here." The figure said, reaching out his hand.

Clair hesitated. "Are you sure that this sword can help us?"

"Of course it can, darling." The figure wheedled, "it is the only thing that can release you from your illness."

Raiden seethed at his words. _No Clair, he's not lying. I can't be mad at him for lying, but he knew that his words were poison. I hope he's rotting in hell._

Clair bent down and handed the sword to the cloaked figure. A smirk was barely visible from Raiden's viewpoint. He turned and walked through the group of ill villagers who were marveling at the beauty of the magical sword.

"This sword, as you know, holds magical properties." The figure started. "It belongs to, who will be, the Land's Army's new sorcerer. Although he is a wielder of magic with this sword, his magic is not yet advanced enough to use its healing properties. This sword is the only thing that has such strong ancient magic tapped inside of it. That is why this sword is the only thing that will save you. Come now, we will advance to the cave that holds the magic book."

The figure, of course, was talking about the Vampire's Cave. He was also talking about the _Ancient Book of Lore_, which rested inside of it. Yet again, he was not lying, but was deceiving. The crowd did not seem to think he was giving them false pretence though.

Claire slipped off of her horse and fell into the crowd. They began what would be a long journey up the mountain. Although Raiden knew that the journey was extremely long, it all seemed to pass by in a grey blur. One second, he was at the base of the mountain, the next, he was at its peak. It was night and hardly a thing could be seen. Although Raiden couldn't see it, he knew the mouth of the cave was there somewhere.

There was a constant rustling coming from the people. This was the part Raiden hated. This was the part that brought anger to his heart and tears to his eyes. He tried vainly again to wake up.

_The Haven was silent. Nothing stirred, but a shadow awoke from the deep and broke apart. Not a sound was made. The shadow glided with the rotation of the moonlight. Its prey was already targeted in its mind. Nothing would see it, and nothing would stop it._

The cloaked figure unsheathed Raiden's sword and held it up high. "Are you ready to be rid of your illness?"

The people cried yes in response.

"Are you ready to be able to rest peacefully without this burden on you?"

More cries were heard along with impatient rustles.

"Are you ready for this sword to work its magic?"

The cries were the loudest this time. The figure had to wave its free hand to settle the people down.

"Alright then, you have agreed to these terms. Thank Lord Hikari."

Raiden moaned in his sleep. _Please, please let me wake up._

_The shadow leaned into the room. In the room there were two beings, one male and one female. The shadow saw the perfect opportunity arise. He crept closer toward his prey. In the back of the male's mind, something stirred._

Scarlet, flashes of silver lightning and scarlet. Raiden couldn't close his eyes; he couldn't cover his ears either. The screams echoed, the madness broke, and hell raged. The figure flew out on the unprepared and unarmed people. Clair's blue eyes widened as tears gathered. She stood like a beacon of light in the deep mass of darkness.

Two split images flashed through Raiden's mind. One half was still the massacre at the cave, but the other half was another image. He was confused at first, but then fearful. His visions were never wrong.

_The shadow captured its prey and took it before it even had a chance to wake up and realize what was happening. The shadow had left the room without a sound. The male woke up in a dizzy haze, confused by the buzz in the back of his head._

Clair stood with tears running down her face. Raiden had tears running down his face as well. She choked on her tears and her breathing was heavy.

"Why did you do that? Tell me why!" She cried. It appeared as if she was drowning in the moonlight that had chosen to appear.

The figure chuckled. "Because, silly girl, Hikari asked me to."

Without hesitation, the figure pierced Raiden's sword through Clair's abdomen. Clair's mouth was open, but it was Raiden's scream that was heard, not her own.

_The male realized what had happened. He went flying out of the door and down the stairs. He reached the clearing of the Haven and caught a glimpse of the shadow. He paused in horror. It was not an unfamiliar figure that stole her away._

Raiden awoke with a start. He ignored the tears running down his face and flew out of the door. He unsheathed his sword and summoned lightning wind, carrying him across the country. He had to get to the Haven and fast.

_The male was frozen to the spot. How could it be?_

Raiden was barely avoiding the trees in the complete darkness. He was almost to the Haven. _Please let me be there on time. I can't be late again._

Raiden burst into the Haven and started doing what the male in the clearing could not. He started yelling in order to wake the others up. He ran upstairs and burst into the room where he had seen the female being captured. It was too late. The room was empty.

"No, I'm too late again, damn it. Not again!" Raiden dropped to his knees.

Meiling came running out of her room. "Raiden, what is it? What's wrong?" She dropped down onto her knees next to Raiden.

"She's gone. He took her." Raiden whispered.

"What? Who's gone? Who was taken?" Meiling asked, placing her hands on Raiden's shoulders.

"She's gone, the shadow took her." Raiden said.

Before Meiling could say another thing, she felt herself being pulled up.

"Come one, we're going to save her." Raiden said, pulling Meiling back to the clearing.

In the clearing Chiharu and Takashi were waiting for a better explanation.

"What in _hell_ is going on Raiden?" Chiharu asked, concerned.

"Yeah Raiden, care to explain?" Syaoran said from the doorway of the oak tree.

Sakura appeared behind him.

"She was taken by…him." Kero said, floating in mid air.

"It's Tomoyo, I had a vision that she was taken. We have to go after her." Raiden cried, starting to leave.

"No," Kero said.

Raiden froze.

"Kero, Raiden's right, we have to get Tomoyo back." Syaoran said, walking toward the middle of the group, Sakura close behind him.

Kero shook his head.

Sakura stepped closer to the middle of the circle, a frail appearance taking over her. "Kero, we need to save Tomoyo."

Kero shook her head again. "We won't be able to chase after her, I saw who took her."

"Who was it?" Chiharu asked.

"Clow,"

OVOVOV

VictorianPearl: There's a cliffhanger for you. We're going to jump right into question and answer.

**Stephie23:** I'm sorry; this story isn't Meiling+Touya though. Also, in this story, Touya and Yukito are just best friends and sexy bachelors. I'm basing this story as if it would have happened in old times, somewhere between 14th and 17th century. I don't want to give too much away though. Thanks for the review.

**Little Rose:** Thanks for the cool review, I really enjoyed reading it.

**CherryIzzy: **Your review made me laugh (in a good way). I'm really glad you like the story.


	7. Return

VictorianPearl: Notes and questions and answers are at the end of the chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 7

Return

Sakura was gaping at Kero. "Kero, you know that's impossible. Clow died eight years ago."

Kero shook his head. "I thought that too, but I just saw him. It was his aura that woke me up. I don't know how to explain it."

"So what if it's Clow!" Raiden said. "We still need to get Tomoyo."

"I know how you feel Raiden." Kero said. "But if Clow wants to have Tomoyo, he'll have her. His magic is extremely advanced if he's able to pull this off. I'm lucky that I even caught a glimpse of him. He probably teleported right after I spotted him."

"So…he _wanted_ you to see him?" Meiling asked.

Kero shrugged. "I have no clue. If Clow wants to be secretive, he'll be secretive."

Sakura slowly walked over to a chair and dropped onto it. She put her elbows on her thighs and her face in her hands. Tomoyo was gone. Not only was she gone, but someone she thought long dead had taken her. Many painful memories were being caused to resurface.

"Raiden," Meiling said, pulling on his tunic, "how did you know that Tomoyo was going to be captured?"

Raiden sighed and dropped onto the ground in a sitting position. "I was having that nightmare again, the one where I see Clair getting killed. In the middle of it, I saw a split picture of Tomoyo being captured."

"And you saw Clow capturing her?" Meiling asked gently.

Raiden shook his head. "I couldn't identify who was doing the capturing. I only saw her being taken. I knew it wasn't a dream because the same thing happened when Clair died. I dreamed of her death the same moment it happened."

"Do you mean you saw her die before it really happened?" Chiharu asked.

Raiden shook his head again. "When I have prophetic dreams, they're not really 'prophetic'. I dream the things as they're happening. It's one aspect of my magic I've never been able to correct."

A silence settled in. Everyone knew that there was nothing they could do and were left feeling helpless. The silence was broken by Naoko entering the Haven.

"What's going on?" She asked, rubbing her eyes beneath her spectacles.

Everyone turned their heads away, leaving Syaoran to explain everything to Naoko. Naoko had her mouth agape the whole time.

"B-but…that can't be right." She stuttered.

"We've got to stop focusing on what's correct or not and figure out what to do." Syaoran said, being the only one still with a clear sense.

Kero fidgeted, looking at Sakura. "Sakura…do you know what you have to do?"

Sakura had not moved from her position and still did not. Her voice came weak and feeble. "Yes Kero, I know what I must do."

Syaoran noticed that he wasn't the only one confused. Everyone, save Sakura and Kero, seemed unsure as of what the two were talking about.

"We should all go back to bed and get some rest." Sakura said, standing up. It seemed to Syaoran that she looked him directly in the eye now. "We'll need it for tomorrow."

"Is there nothing else we can do?" Takashi asked, seeing the anxious look on his love's face.

Sakura shook her head. "The best thing to do now is get sleep, even if it seems like the worst thing to do at the moment. We have no leads to where Tomoyo is anyway. Plus, Clow is probably shielding her aura. There's no way to track her."

Although Takashi looked like he wanted to argue, he kept his mouth shut. He had learnt to always trust Sakura's perception and judgment. She had never been wrong before.

Reluctantly, everyone drifted off to bed. Sakura and Syaoran stayed in the clearing to make sure that the other occupants actually went to their rooms. Raiden sent Sakura a last, distant, gaze before disappearing into the oak tree. The two sorcerers waited a few minutes after everyone went to their rooms to head toward the oak tree.

Syaoran closed the door behind him in the ballroom, Sakura in front of him. Before she could take her first step up the wooden steps, Syaoran grabbed her hand and pulled her to his chest.

"Sakura, tell me that you know what's going on." Syaoran said gruffly, staring into her green eyes that were brought out by her green night gown. "Everything that you do, and everyone else…it doesn't make sense. The choices you make aren't practical."

"Nothing is practical here, Syaoran." Sakura whispered, letting his name glide over her tongue smoothly. She couldn't help but fall deep into the capturing depths of his eyes.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Syaoran asked, gripping her wrist in his hand tightly while the other snaked around her waist. "There are lives at stake and yet you do not seem to realize the impact of it."

"Yes, but after so long a time of having lives at stake all the time, one easily forgets the constant dangers." Sakura whispered, unconsciously drawing closer to Syaoran.

Syaoran's hand moved from Sakura's wrist to her back. With the look he was giving her, she was sure that he was going to kiss her. Her breath came out shortly as his head came down.

Sakura moaned as Syaoran gently kissed her neck. His kisses were slow and his hands rough, trailing her back. She tilted her head back as his kisses trailed down to the low neckline of her nightgown.

"You are one to talk of acting calmly in dangerous conditions." Sakura gasped.

Syaoran let his tongue glide smoothly across her collar bones in response. "You're not stopping me from kissing you though."

Delicate hands traced Syaoran's chest. Neither was sure how, but they moved, Syaoran pinning Sakura to the smooth wooden wall. He kissed her neck over and over again, letting his hands trace her waist.

"Syaoran," Sakura whispered deeply, "kiss me. Kiss my lips."

Syaoran slowly brought his head up to Sakura's. His lips hovered right above hers'. He stayed there, almost trying to figure out how to kiss her. She was so delicate and yet strong willed. She was pressed up so firmly against him.

"I can't." Syaoran said, causing pain and disappointment to cross Sakura's face. "If I kissed your lips now," He traced his fingers over her soft lips, "I could not be able to stop."

Sakura sighed and buried her head into Syaoran's chest, tightly hugging him to her. Syaoran wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, keeping her close to him as if she might fly away. Yes, he saw now how easily dangers could be forgotten.

"Syaoran…?" Sakura asked slowly in a sleepy manor.

"Yes..?" Syaoran inquired, inhaling the scent of her hair.

"You never did tell me why you were here." Sakura said.

Syaoran smiled. She sounded like a child who wanted to hear a bedtime story to block out the outside horrors. If ever there were a child who needed it, it was Sakura. Syaoran realized that the two of them had very different strengths and they leaned on each other in their rare times weakness.

"I shall have to tell you that story then." Syaoran replied, picking Sakura up in his arms. "We'll get you to rest in your bed and then I'll tell you." And with that, Sakura was carried up the wooden step of the gleaming ballroom.

OOO

Syaoran and Sakura stood alone, side by side, in an extremely large clearing in the trees, near to the shore. The place had a faint buzz of an aura similar to Sakura's. Syaoran remembered feeling that sense when passing through the clearing after shortly arriving to Tomoeda.

Syaoran looked at Sakura. Her gaze was focused in the dewy section of the grass in the middle of the clearing. Her dress was s black one, as usual, and she seemed extremely pale in the morning atmosphere.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Syaoran questioned concernedly. "You only just recovered yesterday. A lot of physical energy usage wouldn't be wise right now and magical usage even more so."

Sakura pulled her shoulders back determinedly. "I have to do it. I'm alive and well, and perhaps even safe." She glanced at Syaoran. "But I don't know Tomoyo's condition. I've got to do this for her."

Syaoran only nodded. She needed to help her best friend. He wouldn't stop her; it was her choice after all. He would just be there.

"What is this place?"

"This…this is the place where Clow used to live." Sakura replied, gazing about the clearing. "Can you feel his aura?"

Syaoran nodded. "Yes, I felt it when I first arrived here. It feels similar to yours."

Sakura nodded without looking at Syaoran. "I'm going to use my magic to return us to that day when it happened. It will be as if we are watching an illusion, but it will be very real. We won't be able to change anything and nobody will be able to see us. We will simply observe…but there is something that I must ask of you."

Syaoran stared down at Sakura. "What is it?"

Sakura sighed and looked down. "I may not be able to…watch the very last part of what we're about to see. Could you watch the last part for me?"

Syaoran nodded, even though he was very confused and had no sense as to what he was supposed to be watching. "Yes, I'll watch for you."

"Alright," Sakura said in response, "and remember, don't go further than three paces from my side. If you do, the illusion will be broken, and I don't know if I'm emotionally strong enough to handle it."

Syaoran could no longer see Sakura's eyes because she was bowing her head down low. "What exactly are we about to see. What am I supposed to be listening to?"

Sakura looked strait ahead. "We're going to go back to that day when Clow was killed. We have to see if he really died. If he didn't die, we need to figure out why he's been hiding for so long without telling me, Tomoyo, or Kero. If he did die, we've got to figure out what he did to make himself come back.

"We might have to move around a lot, so remember to stay by my side. Don't speak either, we need to hear everything that's going on. As for what you're going to be watching…please tell me what happens to Clow when he supposedly dies."

Sakura gave no response time. Syaoran didn't see her use any movements or hear her speak any words, but a blue glow began to ensnare them both. The clearing grew dark with the ink spill of night. Trees burst forth from the ground and grew up all around them. Magnificent of all though, was the mansion that rebuilt itself from the earth in the cluster of the trees.

The atmosphere set in and the time was set. They were back in the day that Clow was killed eight years ago. Syaoran saw nobody around. He saw only one window in the mansion that was lit, and it was in one of the highest rooms. What would soon be a clearing was extremely silent.

"We'll wait by the path." Sakura whispered, taking Syaoran's hand in hers and walking to a dirt path that opened near the house.

Syaoran waited with Sakura, peering down the path. For a while, there was nothing, soon though, he could hear something faintly, steadily growing louder. Syaoran was able to make out two slim and rather small figures racing down the path. He soon saw that the figures were two girls, one was a young Tomoyo and the other a young Sakura.

Syaoran saw their frightened faces. He saw the difference from the young Sakura to the older one. Young Sakura looked happier, despite her frightened look. Her wide green eyes seemed to be filled with more innocence and with less wisdom from pain. The most obvious difference was the clothing. She wore a light blue dress that looked very pretty. She had a hat that was tied around her neck with a ribbon, but was bouncing behind her head.

Young Tomoyo also seemed very different, although not as large a difference as Sakura. Although there was the obvious youth in her features, she also was dressed prettily. She wore a dress of lavender and yellow that was separated in the front, revealing two lavender panted legs that benefited to her running. In Tomoyo's eyes though, Syaoran could see much of the wisdom that she now held. She would not be so corrupted by the events about to happen.

"Hurry Tomoyo, we don't have much time." Young Sakura cried, grabbing her friend's hand and speeding up the pathway.

The two girls went speeding up to Clow's door. They slammed the doors open and ran into the house, screaming Clow's name. Syaoran and Sakura followed as young Sakura and Tomoyo went racing up the stairs. They flew up the twisting staircase and down a long hallway with doors on either side. The two girls seemed just know where to go, running strait to a door at the end of the hall. They burst forth through the door, running into what was the library.

"Clow!" Sakura cried, seeing Clow sitting by the fire in a large red chair.

The man known as Clow turned to look at the two girls, smiling calmly. He had long, dark blue hair pulled back with black string. He was wearing robes that too suggestively told that his position was magical. He seemed very carefree and didn't seem too worried that these two girls were screaming his name like bloody murder.

"Hello Sakura, Tomoyo, what seems to be the problem?" Clow asked in a way that he might have asked for tea.

"Clow, it's the villagers, they're coming for you!" Sakura said, tears streaming down her face.

"Ah, are they now? I was wondering when they would come. They've been taking a while." Clow said in happy manor that suggested he had been waiting a while for something to happen.

"They're going to kill you Clow!" Tomoyo said, standing on the opposite side of the chair from Sakura. "They say they're going to burn your mansion."

Clow nodded. "Yes, I know what they wish to do. They have been planning this for some time. They're not very secretive, are they?"

"But why Clow…why would they do this?" Sakura asked, pulling the long sleeve of his robes.

Clow sighed and rested a hand on Sakura's head.

"The town folk believe that I have been helping Hikari. They also believe that I am training you to follow after me so that I may use your magical abilities. They believe that you are stronger than a regular human would be at your age with the training you've had. They are right though, Sakura, you are excelling in your magic better than any I have ever known."

"But Clow…" Sakura whispered, burying her face in his robes.

"What will happen now Clow? Where are Kero and Yue?" Tomoyo asked.

Clow smiled at Tomoyo. "I have sent Yue and Kero away. They are not to be involved in this. You are very perceptive for noticing their absence."

"You aren't in league with Hikari though, Clow. The village people should know that. You're good." Sakura cried. "Why can't you just tell them that you're not working with him?"

Clow gently stroked Sakura's hair. "Some day you will understand. It isn't as simple as it all seems. The village folk act in ways that you cannot understand yet. But its okay, my leaving isn't the end of the world."

"It is!" Sakura screamed, clutching Clow's robes tightly. "If you go, I will have no daddy! Then who will stop Hikari. He killed real daddy and he's the reason you might die too!"

"Please Clow," Tomoyo said, gently tugging on his robes, "why can't you use your magic to protect yourself?"

Clow slowly turned his attention to Tomoyo. "In a way, I will, perhaps. But it is like I said, the village people act in ways that you cannot understand. Besides, I will not be the one who brings Hikari down."

Sakura looked up slowly. "You won't?"

Clow shook his head. "There will be a light that is so bright that even Hikari's name will not be able to match it."

"Who will do it?" Sakura asked with wide eyes.

"It will not be only one person." Clow said. "His downfall will be the result of more person than one."

Clow's head snapped up. "Ah, they're finally coming." He said cheerfully. "You two need to do exactly as I tell you. You need to run to the forest, far away from here."

"We can't Clow, we can't." Tomoyo pleaded.

"Please Clow." Sakura cried.

Clow placed both of his hands on Sakura's face. "I will place a little bit of my magic in you so that you will carry on my will. You will be the heir to my magic."

Syaoran couldn't help but notice he wasn't exactly looking at young Sakura when he said this.

Sakura's pink aura was visible and vibrant as Clow held her face. Suddenly, a dark blue aura surrounded the pink aura and turned the outsides of it black. A bright light filled the room. When the light faded, Sakura had changed. Syaoran couldn't put his finger on it, but she was now different.

"Now run," Clow commanded, "go far away and don't look back."

Tomoyo pulled young Sakura out of the library. The older Sakura buried her face into Syaoran's arm.

"They're coming. They're going to burn his house down."

Syaoran looked down at Sakura. "This is only an illusion, correct?"

Sakura nodded into Syaoran's arm. Soon, the shouts of the village folk could be heard. Clow didn't move at all, he stared into the fire, looking quite content. There was no warning, the torches were tossed on the mansion and the rocks came flying through the windows.

"So much work spoiled." Clow said. It seemed to be the only thing he was sad about.

Sakura clutched Syaoran's arm. The shouts were loud and crude. The fire began to crackle. Rocks could be heard vibrating against the walls. The temperature became an uncomfortable warm. Syaoran saw Clow put up a blue shield around himself. Syaoran was convinced that this was what kept him alive through the fire. As the fire crackled on though, he saw that that was not so.

The shrieks of the village folk could be heard below, obviously pleased with their work. Syaoran held Sakura tighter and she whimpered. She was sure something horrible was happening, but she couldn't watch Clow die, she couldn't see him like that. She felt Syaoran push her away roughly. She stumbled back and fell to the ground.

Sakura opened her eyes wide, staring at the floor. Tears came dropping down. _What is he doing?_ She was in shock.

The illusion began to fade though. The visions swirled in a great burst of color. The red flames circled and dove into the ground. The trees fell and died, the night slowly lifted, and they were back in the clearing.

Sakura pushed herself up into a sitting position. She saw Syaoran standing a few feat away. She realized what had happened. He had seen what had happened and stopped the illusion. He made it so that they came back from the return.

"What happened?" Sakura asked reluctantly.

Syaoran looked to the other side of the clearing. "He put a spell on himself. It made it so that when the flames came, he died peacefully. But he did die, it was for sure." He glanced at Sakura. "Do you want more details?"

Sakura shook her head quickly. "No, don't give me details."

Syaoran walked over to Sakura and gave his hand to help her up. "What do we do now?"

Sakura paused for a moment after being helped up.

"We go tell Naoko, Raiden, and Kero what happened. From there, I think I may have an idea of where to look."

OOO

VictorianPearl: How do you like it? The most embarrassing thing happened to me while writing this. I had another Microsoft Word window up on my computer along with the window to write _Lucid Darkness_. I _thought_ that I closed both windows, but I didn't. I was eating ice cream at 8:00pm when my little brother said that he was reading my window.

I quickly came over and shut the window and said that I didn't care and that I wrote it. He said, "I could tell." I had to think back to the last thing I had written at the time, and it was the kissing scene! I was so embarrassed. My little brother was _not_ supposed to read that.

Sakura: It wasn't that bad. He wasn't even really kissing me.

VictorianPearl: It doesn't matter!

Raiden: Because VictorianPearl is too busy blushing, I will be the one announcing today's question and answer.

**Stephie23: **Thanks, as always, for the awesome review. I actually got this one up within a week. I'll try to get the chapters up once a week, but please be patient with me, it's pretty hard to find typing time now-a-days. I look forward to your reviews!

**VampireJazzy:** Thanks for the review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**CherryIzzy:** I'm really glad that you liked the last chapter. I tried to make the ending of this chapter not such a drop off. I'll try and keep my updates at a frequent pace. Thanks for the review.

**anime flower: **Yeah, I hope the whole, 'Raiden having visions of Tomoyo being kidnapped' was made sense of in this chapter. He was having a vision. Yeah, Clow taking Tomoyo is part of my ingenious plot twist…or at least I like to think so.

**dragonwolf-sky: **No, the Lestat in my story is not from the movie/book _A Vampire's Story_. Although you've got me interested now and I want to read/see it. I chose the name for him because the name 'Lestat' means vampire.


	8. Conspiracy

VictorianPearl: I apologize for lateness. Comments and q and a are at the end of the chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 8

Conspiracy

Raiden and Kero sat with grim faces. They had been found out by Sakura and Syaoran and told what they had seen. Things became even odder with their explanation, if possible.

"This leaves us two possibilities." Kero said. "It's either Clow, or it's a trap."

"I would normally think it to be the latter, but not this time." Sakura said.

"It's so difficult," Syaoran said quietly, drawing attention, "one cannot distinguish the difference from the true and false here, right and wrong. At least in my homeland, the difference was very clear."

The others nodded in agreement. They shared glances and looked down. After being around so much bad for so long, it was hard to imagine goodness, let alone a plan without a deadly trap behind it.

"Trap or no, we've still got to go and rescue Tomoyo." Raiden said.

More nods of agreement.

"But where do we search?" Sakura asked, putting her chin in her hand. "Clow definitely wasn't at the clearing. The only thing there was the familiar buzz of magic."

"Actually Sakura, we were hoping that _you_ could tell _us_." Raiden said. "After all, you and Tomoyo were the ones who spent so much time together."

"I was there too you know." Kero pointed somewhat rudely. "Heck, I _lived_ with the guy."

"Right, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out where he went." Raiden said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. They were at his cottage.

Sakura and Kero looked at each other with long, sideways glances. It didn't help to lighten the mood.

"The thing is…" Kero started carefully. "Clow didn't really go out too much once he met Sakura. He was never one for obviousness and rarely told his hidden secrets."

A long silence ensued.

"Well, it looks like we're off to a good start." Syaoran commented.

Kero glared at Syaoran, who returned it with equal fervor.

"We're going to have to do a lot of history digging." Sakura said with a foreboding weariness.

"And so we become historians." Raiden commented, standing up. "Then let us waste no time in doing so."

Syaoran glanced between Sakura, Kero, and Raiden. "I'm guessing that I won't be much help then."

Sakura sent a sad and desperate look toward Syaoran. "You won't be _no_ help, it will just be hard for you to be able to find information. But please help, we need as much as we can get."

Syaoran smiled at Sakura. "Of course,"

Kero glared at Syaoran again, but it went unnoticed.

OOO

Syaoran was flipping through the pages of a leather bound diary…Sakura's diary. At a young age, Sakura's father had told her to write in a diary regularly, which she did. Sakura had insisted that they look through all of the diaries for any clues. Syaoran was given the diaries Sakura wrote in when young, as not to embarrass him.

It was so odd. Syaoran had never really had a happy childhood. He hadn't been unhappy, but he hadn't been happy either. As a child, he didn't have very many children his age to play with. It was understandable as to why he found Sakura's diaries fascinating.

_It's odd to be reading this and experiencing a joyful childhood. I didn't even know that such a happy childhood was possible. Too bad it was short lived._

Although he didn't realize it, Syaoran became more engrossed with the story of Sakura's life as opposed to actually searching for clues to where Clow could be. If Syaoran didn't notice, Sakura did, and it made her smile.

Sakura had been reliving her old and well lived childhood. She lifted her head up to ask Syaoran if he wanted a break, but was stopped short. Her whole being froze when her eyes lay upon him. She saw his vivid eyes moving back and forth along the pages of writing. The expression on his face was one of complete vulnerability that she'd never seen before. It melted her heart.

Eventually though, thoughts of Tomoyo being alone somewhere with a supposedly dead man filled their minds, and they began to search more frantically. The work went smoothly. The only ones out of everyone in the Haven searching for Tomoyo were Raiden, Sakura, Syaoran, and Kero.

Takashi had been forced to continue his duties as one of the Land's Guards stationed in the village. Chiharu, Meiling, and Naoko all had been forced to go back to work so that they could make money. Meiling tried to argue her way into staying and helping, but Raiden subtly mentioned Madoka, reminding Meiling of her duties. Naoko finally reopened the library, to the delight of many townspeople. The changes in them were subtle, but growing.

"Sakura," Syaoran said, pointing to a scripted line near the top of the page, "you wrote something about a cave behind a waterfall."

Sakura concentrated. "A waterfall..?"

Syaoran nodded, glancing back at her. "You wrote that you used to go there with Clow to practice magic. It's dated around the time you were nine."

A concentrated and confused look graced Sakura's face. Her eyes suddenly lit up as something in her head clicked.

"Yes, I remember now! When Clow first started training me, he took me to that waterfall. We went there for a few months, but I had completely forgotten."

Sakura beamed at Syaoran and threw her arms around him. Syaoran was very taken aback by the girl's actions.

"We may have found them yet!" Sakura cried, pulling back and smiling up at Syaoran.

Syaoran found Sakura's smile contagious and couldn't help giving a small smile himself. He didn't know he had the power to make this girl happy. This beautiful girl…

"Are you ready to go tell Kero and Raiden?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran nodded. "Lead the way."

OOO

The old section of the forest was extremely verdant. The leaves on the trees and the grass on the ground were green and lush. It seemed that much of the grey filtered world of Tomoeda did not affect the old section of the forest.

Such a place should have been filled with villagers, but there were none. The old part of the forest was said to have been cursed by Clow and the villagers feared it. The residence of Neo-Clow's Haven knew better though.

At that moment, Kero, Raiden, Syaoran, and Sakura were tracking through the said part of the forest. They said nothing. The only sounds were the soft padding of feet and the occasional cry of a crow. There was, surprisingly, no tension.

There had been tension earlier though.

The four had decided it was better than not to tell everyone in the Haven what they were doing and where they were going. It was better to have no conspiracy. And although this was the best decision, the others weren't happy.

A small argument arose from the others that had been called to the Haven. This was most especially between Raiden and Meiling. Eventually though, the argument was closed and the others were left ill of temper. Once the four left though, their tempers cooled and they went back to their jobs, save Meiling. The latter went grudgingly to her orange stand and was both sad and angry.

Now, walking through the forest, Syaoran and Sakura were slightly behind Raiden and Kero. Syaoran brushed his fingers over Sakura's crystal necklace, which he still wore. Although he had agreed to give it back, there was a strong force inside of him that made him reluctant to part with it.

"Sakura," Syaoran mumbled.

"Hmm..?" Sakura hummed, looking up into Syaoran's eyes.

"Your crystal necklace," He gently gripped it in his hand, "how did you get it? Why is it so important to you?"

Sakura sent Syaoran a curious look, but jumped right into her story all the same.

"My father made it for my mother. He gave it to her when he asked her to marry him. "Sakura's eyes had a dreamy gleam in them. "My mother had the most beautiful green eyes; he knew she was the one, his true love.

"He would tell her all of the time how he could see the stars in her eyes every time he looked into them. My mother thought he was silly to say that, and it was sort of like a joke they shared. When he gave her the necklace though, it was very meaningful. It showed that he loved even the minor parts of their relationship.

"When my mother died, my father gave me her necklace. He told me that it symbolized the combination of his and my mother's love, so it was only natural that I wore it."

Sakura sighed, staring ahead but not appearing to actually see what lay ahead. Syaoran felt sadness inside of him, and somewhere in the depths of his heart, a touch of jealousy. He vowed that as soon as he got back home and saved his mother, he would have her tell him all about how she met his father. He had never bothered to ask before.

Syaoran looked down at the ground. He felt as if he were forgetting his family. Had it only been one week and four days since he had been banished? It felt as if an age had passed. Their faces and the sounds of their voices were slowly slipping away from him. It was like trying to keep the hourglass sand from falling, even in one knew it was futile.

"We're here."

Syaoran looked up. Raiden had stopped walking. There was a tall waterfall in front of them. The color of the water, grass, trees, and rocks seemed vibrant here. The water fell and bubbled down to the thin river in a musical way. It sounded soft and felt soothing to the soul. For a few moments, the four did nothing except stand and admire. The necklace around Syaoran's neck felt warm.

Raiden turned to Syaoran and Sakura. "You two should go in first. If you are in too long, or you call for help, we'll go in."

Sakura nodded and started forward. It might not have seemed like common sense to send herself in first, but Syaoran would protect her. She jumped over the river next to the waterfall.

Syaoran jumped next to Sakura and together they ducked under the waterfall. Syaoran gaped at the cavern. It was dark but held a ghostly light. In its own way, the cavern was extremely beautiful. He could now see why the villagers considered the place haunted.

The mouth of the cavern was tall, but slanted into a dark and narrow tunnel. The bubbling sound of the waterfall reechoed throughout the cavern. The sound of water dripping through rocks blended in with the echoing sounds.

"Be careful and tread lightly." Sakura whispered without need. "When we pass through the tunnel, we'll come to another cavern with black sand and winding tunnels connecting from it. I'm not sure where Clow will be, but I know these cavers fairly well, we'll find him eventually."

"Should we draw weapons or use magic?" Syaoran asked, putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura felt the warm weight of his hand weighing down upon her. She took a shuddering breath before shaking her head.

"No, those are of no use against Clow. Besides, we don't intend to harm him."

Syaoran's eyebrow went slightly raised. "Perhaps not, but what about self defense. If it isn't Clow that we're chasing, we'll need to defend ourselves."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, but I don't think that this is a trap."

Syaoran's grip on Sakura's shoulder tightened a little. "If you say so,"

He let go and Sakura felt as if a large weight and tension was lifted from her. How odd.

The two advanced through the dark tunnel and came upon the open and hollow cavern from where many tunnels were birthed. This cavern seemed slightly lighter and mysterious than the first cavern. Also, in the middle of the cavern with black sand was Clow Reed, the magician who had taught Sakura everything he knew.

"Clow…" Sakura whispered in a shuddering breath. He voice gained volume now. "It really is you then?"

The man Clow shrugged his shoulders, smiling and the two young people in front of him. "It is my soul, but it is not me."

Sakura glanced at Syaoran before shaking her head. "I do not understand."

Clow waved his hand, causing three chairs to appear from nowhere. "Please sit, it will make my tale much more enjoyable."

Sakura wasted no time walking over to one of the chairs and sitting down. Syaoran hesitated, and then after seeing it was alright, sat down as well.

"You want me to explain how I am here but at the same time I'm not really me." Clow said, taking a seat and succeeding in confusing them both. "I am simply borrowing the body of a friend, a reincarnation, if you will."

"So…you're _not_ Clow then?" Sakura asked, her voice falling.

"This body is not Clow's, but for this moment, I am Clow speaking to you. You should not look so discouraged."

Sakura lowered her head. "You let yourself die Clow." Sakura whispered. "Back then, you said I would later understand the meaning of it all; but I haven't. Why did you have to die Clow?"

Clow smiled solemnly. "Because, Sakura, if I had not died, their anger would not have been drenched and put out, and they would have gone for you. Do you understand now?"

Sakura held Clow's gaze for a moment. She nodded and looked down. "I can see now, how different you look from the real Clow."

Syaoran, who had been silent, also noted the difference in appearance this Clow had from the one he had seen when he returned with Sakura. This Clow was younger the other, his aura felt fresh.

"But that still doesn't explain why Tomoyo had to be taken." Sakura said, a little bit more truculently than Syaoran had expected of her.

Clow nodded and smiled, as he always did. "Do you remember me telling you that I would place my magic inside of you and make you the heir to my magic?"

Sakura nodded.

"Well, I did, in a way. I gave you my magic and my dark aura so that you would continue my recipe. Although I did that, I put a bit of magic in Tomoyo as well, but it was unknowing to her. I was being a little more literal that you expected when I said _you will be heir to my magic_."

"So…what happened to Tomoyo?" Sakura asked, her voice rising.

"She is fine." Clow assured. "I just had to borrow her."

Silence met his explanation.

"I'm sure you wish to know why. I placed a silent magic in Tomoyo that held the key to my reincarnation. That magic was to sleep inside of her until the moment was right."

"And what moment was that?" Sakura asked, her eyes growing jaded.

"The moment when the one who's magic originated from the stars came." Clow said, nodding to Syaoran. "When he came and used the full potential of his magic, the magic in Tomoyo became unlocked. I obviously couldn't let my reincarnation just come out of her. I had to get her here so that the process could be done magically and properly. Nothing happened to Tomoyo; don't look at me like that. I just needed time to restore my reincarnation's body."

"And you are borrowing his body right now?" Syaoran asked.

Clow nodded. "Yes I am."

Sakura stood. "So then, may I see Tomoyo?"

Clow stood as well. "Yes you may, she is right down the center tunnel."

Sakura waited for Syaoran to rise before racing down the center tunnel. Both she and Syaoran came upon a small cavern dressed as a room. There was a small fire, some furniture and bed. On the bed, Tomoyo was sitting and smiling at the two who had come to rescue her.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura cried, launching herself into her laughing friend's arms. "You have no idea how worried I was!"

Tomoyo laughed. "I know. I was worried too, but it's okay, Clow was only kind to me."

Syaoran gave a small smile, seeing the two friends being reunited. He turned to face the tunnel from which they had come. He heard soft footsteps treading nearer to them.

When Clow entered the room, it was apparent to everyone that he was no longer Clow Reed, the magician. He was now another being, and Clow's reincarnation. He no longer seemed to resemble Clow so much. Although his eyes held the same kindness and wisdom that Clow's held, there was a sense of trouble behind them, like a child who knows he can do much without getting caught.

"You," Sakura demanded softly, "who are you?"

The person smiled at the frowning faces.

"There's no need to look so happy." The young looking man said humorously with a deep and foreign accent.

Sakura and Tomoyo managed small smiles, but Syaoran kept up his harsh gaze.

"Who are you?" Sakura repeated again.

"Me, I'm Clow's reincarnation. But you'll be wanting a name, won't you?"

Sakura and Tomoyo nodded in unison.

The reincarnation put his hand onto his chin in thought.

"For a name then, call me Eriol."

OOO

VictorianPearl: I would first like to apologize profusely for taking so long to update. First, AOL and my computer started to act up and wouldn't work properly. It took up to fifteen minutes to upload anything, so I was unable to type much at one time. Then, there have been football games and Homecoming performances that have taken up my time as well. I'm not complaining here, it's just that there have been a lot of time demanding activities these past three weeks. I will try my best to get the next chapter up faster than it took me to get up this one.

Kero: We hope for everyone else's sakes, you're being completely honest.

VictorianPearl: hits Kero over the head with a book Of course I'm being honest. I would never lie! Also, because AOL is choosing to be a b&#, and won't let me look at my reviews, there will be no question and answer this time. I'm terribly sorry.


	9. The Haunting

VictorianPearl: This is the special Halloween Edition of Lucid Darkness. I went back, added scenes, lines, descriptions, and postponed the update to Halloween purposely for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.

Syaoran: It should also be stated that this chapter will be very weird and random. This chapter might also seem a little off from the original story line, but please try to ignore this.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 9

The Haunting

Sakura and Tomoyo stared at Eriol while Syaoran watched uncertainly. The Eriol boy definitely had the same dark aura as Clow had had, but Eriol's seemed to radiate energy in great pulses. Syaoran knew he probably should trust Eriol but his instincts told him otherwise.

"Eriol…Reed?" Sakura asked uncertainly.

Eriol shrugged and leaned against the wall. "You don't have to add the name _Reed_ to my name, but you can if you wish. I'm not a descendent, I'm just a reincarnation." Although his voice did not sound malevolent while stating this, it still caused everyone else to shift uncomfortably.

"No worries though, love," Eriol cooed in his foreign accent, "my name is not important. Right now, we need to leave."

Sakura visibly and noticeably tensed.

"Leave…to where?"

Syaoran moved closer to Sakura as Eriol leaned forward.

Eriol smiled. "We'll need to go east." He turned to leave, fully expecting the others to follow him.

Syaoran was fired up and ready for an excuse to have a long talk with Eriol, but he was beat by Tomoyo.

"Excuse me," Tomoyo said in a manner that held authority, "we still don't know you, even if you are Clow's reincarnation. We're not going to just run off with you to the east land toward Hikari without explanation."

Eriol stopped and turned to look at Tomoyo. He let his gaze run carefully over the girl in a way that might have been rude. Tomoyo flushed brightly.

"I'll give you an explanation while we walk. There's no time to loose." Eriol said, pausing to give Tomoyo one last heavy look over before turning to leave.

"Let us follow." Sakura said softly, starting forward. "I do not think Clow would lead us to trust Eriol if he could not be trusted."

Syaoran stood uncertainly, but began to walk when Sakura caught his hand in hers. Syaoran let himself be pulled forward, but continued to glare heatedly at Eriol. Sure, he might be a reincarnation of a powerful magician, but his looks toward Tomoyo showed a hidden undertone.

"We'll be making our way back to the Haven." Eriol started as they passed through the cavern. "Hopefully we won't need to detour. The Land's Army is pushing back Hikari's forces as we speak. This should leave us clear of his foul tricks, considering he's occupied with the current predicament, but this may not be the case."

They now each jumped from behind the waterfall back out onto the vibrantly colored, lush grass. Tomoyo was the last one to come across. As soon as she was across, they started off again.

"Does Hikari know you're here then?" Tomoyo asked, somewhat hesitantly.

Eriol shrugged without looking back. "Perhaps and perhaps not. He knows that something is brewing, he's just not sure as to what."

As soon as Eriol said this, the woods became overcast with darkness. The ground trembled and a haze settled in. Far off in the distance, a wolf's cry could be heard.

"Jolly good, I thought this might happen." Eriol said cheerfully.

"What in hell is going on?" Syaoran yelled.

Eriol gave a laugh and grabbed Tomoyo 'round the waist. "Hold on tightly, we're about to be knocked off our feet!"

Syaoran only just managed to pull Sakura to his chest before a strong wind came and literally blew them all off of their feet.

Blackness. A swirling blackness like a deep chasm that caused one to be dizzy from the looks of it was what was seen. The blackness swirled together until vague colors were describable from it. Deepness in the chasm and the colors was seen. There was depth to everything, suddenly, everything was somehow symbolic.

Eyes the colors of leaves in the spring, when colors were once vibrant and Clair was alive. Those eyes opened from their previous black state. They blinked once, twice, and then opened wide to take in the new surrounding.

Sakura groaned as she sat up. She was in a wood, but it was no longer the ancient wood that she had been in when she had been pulled to Syaoran. The trees were black. There were pumpkins sitting upon stumps with glowing faces. Grey clouds were floating in the sky above. The moon itself looked like a great glowing pumpkin. The whole wood was lit with an orange glow.

Sakura looked around. Syaoran was nowhere to be seen. She could have sworn that she had been pulled against him though. What had happened? They had had been walking behind Eriol. They hadn't even known him for ten minutes. Suddenly, the earth shook and he laughed, crying for them to grab hold. Syaoran grabbed her, and then blackness. Now she was in this strange place with the pumpkin moon.

Slowly, very slowly, Sakura stood up. She spun in a circle, taking in every sight before her. She appeared to be at the edge of the woods. She could see orange and red torch lights coming from what appeared to be a nearby village. She would approach it cautiously and see if she could figure out where she was.

_This is very scary. I've never had anything like this happen to me. I hope Syaoran and Tomoyo are alright. I hope that I stay safe. I can't let myself be seen. To do that would be to risk my life. Clow always said, 'If you find yourself in a circumstance where you do not know where you are, always make sure that you see before you are seen'._

Sakura walked downhill toward the lights. Distant noises of music and talk could be heard clearly through the silent night. She dodged between the trees making her way closer and closer to the village. She soon arrived at the wooden entry gate. She walked around the outside of it, trying to get a glimpse of what festivals were being held on the inside. Her eyes soon caught hold of what was going on, and she opened her mouth at it.

Syaoran had been woken up by a bunch of loud and rosy cheeked men with pints in each hand. When he had been awakened, he had been sat up. He was very surprised and confused, needless to say. First, he had been awoken by complete strangers in a place where he knew he had not fallen. Second, Sakura was nowhere to be seen. Lastly, there was odd music and many people dressed up for a masquerade.

Through all of this confusion and surprised, Syaoran could not help but admire the beauty of the festival. Everyone seemed so merry and happy. As a very small child, before his father had been murdered, he had many times wished to attend such festivals as were told in stories of old. There was the dancing music and the bright colors. He hardly had time to notice the menacing faces on the pumpkins and the orange moon.

Sakura watched as the beautiful costumed people danced in circles around the lanterns. She wanted to join in and dance too. The costumes were like those that Tomoyo could make. They were so bright and exuberant. Was it even possible for material to radiate energy, because she could see these costumes doing that right at that moment.

Thoughts were lost in time. They were both drawn to the dance, the colors, the festival, and the haunting of the atmosphere. Sakura was suddenly in a dress of purple, gold, and green. Shinning slippers were upon her feet. She was filled with such a joy and excitement that she had never known before. She did the only thing she could think of doing. She danced.

Syaoran walked forward into the crowd of dancers. The music was drowning him. He was enchanted with all that was happening. He could barely hear the merry men with rosy cheeks in the background cheering him to dance. Syaoran felt himself blush at the thought of dance. He smiled brightly at the thought of it. He wanted to dance with Sakura.

Sakura saw Syaoran standing there smiling. He looked like a child living out his one and biggest fantasy. She danced through the people, making her way toward him. She was captured by his eyes, captivated and completely vulnerable.

Syaoran saw the vision of the beautiful dancer, spinning with colors of purple, green, and gold, with shinning slippers. She wound her way through the dancers toward him. As soon as she reached him, he knew that she was his and his alone. Syaoran pulled Sakura toward him and ran his hands lightly through her hair. He pulled her waist into him and bent down and kissed her.

Sakura was dancing one moment and falling into soft lips the next. The music played and the merry men laughed. The pumpkins still glowed and the moon cast its light. Nothing changed with the rest of the scenery, but inside of Sakura, her heart fell totally and completely for Syaoran, now and forever.

Tomoyo woke up in the middle of a misty and dark forest. She was completely lost and very scared. She stood cautiously, looking around everywhere. She gasped at any slight movement. Where was she? This was not Tomoeda. She had never been as scared in her life as she was now.

"Hello…" Tomoyo called softly, but instantly regretted it.

_Somehow, I think it's better if I'm not heard at all. What happened to Eriol? Is he the reason I'm here, or is this Hikari's doing? I hope I can find Sakura and Syaoran before anything happens._

The poor girl looked around each and every way. A wolf's cry was heard off in the distance. This could not be good. Who knew what beasts lurked here. If she were to be attacked, she would not be able to properly defend herself. She would be injured or killed in any onslaught.

Another cry was heard, much closer this time. Tomoyo was shivering violently although it was only slightly cool out. Every shadow seemed sinister and every sound seemed to be one that was imagined from in her head. She wasn't sure if she could hear the distant padding sounds of feet.

Soon, Tomoyo was sure that the sound was not imagined. She started to breathe very shallow. She didn't loose her head though, she had been in many bad situations before; she knew what to do. She ducked behind a large tree, off to the side of where she thought the footsteps were coming. It didn't take long to see what was causing them.

A large wolf appeared in view, although, it did not look like a wolf. The creature was black and hairy like a wolf, but it also seemed very human-like. It was a very creepy and shivering sight to behold. Tomoyo prayed that the creature could not sense her fearful vibes.

The creature did sense her though.

It slowly turned toward her, causing her to catch her breath. It slowly began to walk toward her. The options whipped through her head quickly. She could climb the tree, but she would be seen and charged before she could get up high enough into safety. She could run, but the creature would easily catch up to her. She could also try to fight back, but that would not be very smart, since she was inexperienced.

Tomoyo gulped. What could she do? Any way she chose did not leave her in a good situation. Any situation she chose ended better for the wolf and horribly for her. Where were Sakura and Syaoran?

The creature charged. Tomoyo jumped out of the way. The wolf turned and slowly came back. It was playing with her, this she knew. This scared her more than anything. Maybe she was dreaming. But if she was, would she still be harmed when attacked? The attack was sure to come, but it would be as prolonged as possible. The beast charged again.

Tomoyo dodged again, but the wolf slashed out, catching the ends of her dress. Tomoyo tripped and began to fell. She lost her senses and cried out.

"Help me!"

The woods became alight. With a sudden flash of magic, Eriol appeared and caught her before she fell. He looked at her and smiled.

"I'm glad you called for me. I was hoping I wouldn't have to come and save you at the last minute." He said calmly.

"How can you be so untroubled?" Tomoyo cried, her voice rising. The wolf was eyeing them.

"It's alright." Eriol said.

He rose up his hand. A light surrounded the wolf. In a flash, it disappeared. Tomoyo sighed and collapsed against Eriol's chest, not caring about the situation it put her in.

"Where are we?" Tomoyo asked.

"Hikari tried to send us to a haunted world." Eriol said, stroking Tomoyo's hair. "It only half worked though. We were sent to the section of his world that was supposed to be perilous. Sakura and Syaoran were sent to the section of the world that my magic intervened with."

"So…Sakura and Syaoran are alright?" Tomoyo asked, looking up at Eriol hopefully.

Eriol smiled and nodded. "They're alright."

Sakura and Syaoran danced and kissed. They repeated this over and over again. Neither of them had ever been so happy and joyful before in one moment. They both didn't want it to end. It was so beautiful and wonderful.

A glowing light appeared in the center of the dancing. It did not seem to bother anyone though. From the light appeared Eriol and Tomoyo. Sakura saw Tomoyo run up and hug her. She hugged her back.

"It's so good to see you safe Sakura." Tomoyo said. "You look so wonderful. You and Syaoran must be so happy."

Sakura nodded. "We are."

She smiled brightly.

"We must go now though." Tomoyo said, frowning only slightly.

Sakura frowned as well. "Must we?"

"It's alright." Syaoran said, coming up from behind her. "We have to go back and stop Hikari and Wu. Everyone is depending on us. Your friends, my mother, and everyone else are putting their hope in us."

Sakura pouted, but nodded her head. "If you say so, then I'll believe you."

Tomoyo smiled and grabbed Sakura's hand. "Let us go to Eriol. He'll get us out of here. He's really good after all. This is all of Hikari's doing."

Sakura grabbed Syaoran's hand and they left back to the real world to Neo-Clow's Haven.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Yes, it is 5:52pm on Halloween Evening, but it's Halloween baby! Here are questions and answers to reviews. Also, I would like to apologize for the randomness of this chapter. It wasn't pointless though, it officially got S+S together.

P.S. This was posted on Nov. 1st because servers were down on Halloween Evening when I first tried to post this chapter.

**Stephie23: **Thank you for the review, I always look forward to it.

**CherryIzzy:** I'm glad that you figured out it was Eriol, I was trying to make it a little conspicuous. Thanks for the review.

**MelMel0492:** Thanks for the review. I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story, that means I'm doing my job properly.


	10. Reasons

VictorianPearl: I am sorry that I dropped off the planet of ffnet for a month. I hope you enjoy this chapter and forgive me. Look on the bright side though, at least I don't take up to three months for one update. Comments and questions at the end of the chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Reasons

Chapter 10

The Land's Army was ranked facing the eastern land. They were lined for battle. The battles were becoming fewer, but they were also becoming bigger and bloodier. This was a sign that a victor for the war would soon be chosen.

Touya and Yue were in the first line. They were watching the hill filled horizon intently. The grass was swaying violently in the wind. Each soldiers' ears were pounding and numb from the cold, unwavering, bursts of wind.

Hikari's army of monsters could not yet be seen, but their pounding drums were audible over even the wind. The ground vibrated slightly underneath everyone's feet; they could not tell if it was from Hikari's approaching army, or from their own trembling bodies.

Touya's knuckles were white, stiff, and frozen cold from clutching his sword. They had been lined up for an extremely long period of time, and Hikari's army was in no hurry. He kept repeating to himself: Just a little longer, you'll be warm from battle soon enough.

Yue was the only one who did not seem to much mind the cold. He did not move and he did not speak, he simply watched the hills on the horizon, waiting for the appearance of ugly faces. When they finally came, he spoke.

"Slower than any living thing I've ever seen-but they're coming nonetheless."

Everyone in the Land's Army raised their heads to the sky and prayed that Hikari's army would be blessed with speed. Standing still in this horrible cold was far worse than any bit of steel that swords might have brought. Now, rather than dreading the battle, they almost welcomed it.

It took what seemed an age, but the army finally made it over the hill. There were no flying monsters (or at least none that could be seen), which was good; but, for the lack of flying beasts, the army was plentiful in goblins.

"How long do you judge the battle will take?" Touya asked Yue without turning his head, not yet able to see all the forces of the army.

"Longer than a usual battle," Yue replied casually. "They have many goblins with tough skin in the first rank that our archers cannot penetrate. Goblins are too heavy though and will easily fall to the sword."

"And what of magic-will their skin be too tough to penetrate with magic?" Touya asked, although he already knew the question.

Yue's stare hardened. "I will not be able to use my magic until will into the battle."

Touya swore silently. Yue was their best weapon. They couldn't send him off on his own past the goblins, but nobody else could fly. Unfortunately, goblin skin was not only rough against arrows, but magic as well. The battle had a promising length of time to be spent fighting it.

"Will you stay and fight until magic is useful?" Touya asked, his eyes still glued on the nearing faces.

"Actually, I was planning to go for a short walk." Yue said with all seriousness.

Touya gave a shivering smile. Yue hardly ever showed any signs of humor or happiness, but when he did, it was always at the moment when it was needed. However Yukito was born to bear Yue was beyond Touya's mind, but perhaps it was better that they were polar opposites.

Hikari's army was not too far away now; the blood spill would begin soon. Touya was suddenly not quite so ready to make the call to charge. He didn't want, for this one second in time, to have to spill blood. But what other way was there? He took in one last savoring breath, memorizing the setting of the battle. The moment passed all too quickly and Touya gave the battle call.

OOO

Sakura was breathing deeply and smiling, _smiling_. Not her knowing smile, not her friendly smile, but an excited smile. Had it really happened? Had she really been kissed by Syaoran? It had felt so wonderful, like a dream. But it sort of had been a dream, in its own little way. She could still remember it. She thought it should happen again soon.

The four of them, Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, and Eriol, were all now heading back to Neo-Clow's Haven. Syaoran had cursed Eriol for the delay, but he had done so while tightly holding Sakura, contradicting his very words. He wanted reason to be angry at Eriol because he felt grateful toward him. Was it solely because of Eriol that he was holding onto Sakura?

Although Syaoran had definitely felt an attraction to Sakura before, his heart now felt as if it were overflowing with love. He had never really ever loved anyone with so much passion before…apart from his parents. Holding this lovely girl in his arms gave him hope of saving his mother and all of Yen. Holding this girl gave him strength and knowledge that he _could_ save both Yen and his Mother.

Tomoyo also seemed in higher spirits. She couldn't remember the last time she had giggled and laughed like nothing was wrong. There had always been something wrong in the past, but nothing seemed wrong at just this moment. Oh Sakura and Syaoran, they both deserved so much happiness. She had so much to thank Eriol for, although she wasn't sure what she would tell him.

The four soon arrived at Neo-Clow's Haven. As soon as they arrived, Tomoyo ran into the Haven and started shouting all the news. Everyone was very confused by her talk of _Eriol_, but they clearly understood what her talk of Sakura and Syaoran meant.

Sakura felt all of the air leave her lungs as she was ambushed by Chiharu, Meiling, and Naoko. They were all squealing and giggling like school girls.

"How did it happen?"

"What was it like?"

"Is Syaoran a good kisser?"

Sakura couldn't even answer the questions because she was laughing so hard. The questions went unanswered as the other girls all joined in with the laughing.

Raiden came over and gave Syaoran a pat on the back. Takashi shook Syaoran's hand with an understated, "About time,"

Eriol went quite unnoticed. He stood near the edge of the circle of trees, watching everyone laugh and reunite about the small journey. Eventually they would remember that he was there.

Just as he had predicted, Sakura's face lit up with remembrance and she tried to calm everyone down. "Please, just give me a couple of seconds."

Everyone obliged and Sakura was able to speak freely. "During our trip to the waterfall, we ran into a familiar face." Sakura paused to keep everyone anxious. "We saw Clow there."

Everyone blinked a couple of times before Takashi blatantly said, "What..?"

"We met Clow at the waterfall. He spoke to me of some things, and then he disappeared."

Chiharu scratched the back of her head. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming that one?"

Sakura shook her head. "I thought I had been but then Eriol came."

"Eriol..?" Raiden questioned softly.

"Yes," Sakura replied, "he knows a lot about Hikari's Army and he's here to help us. He's Clow's second being."

The looks on everyone's faces were half confused and half understanding. Syaoran and Tomoyo, who had unnoticed, left the group, came back with a stranger between them.

"_He_ is Eriol." Sakura said triumphantly.

Once they saw him, there was no doubt in their minds about him being Clow's "second being". His appearance did more than convince them, it caused all of their mouths to drop open in shock.

"Eriol Reed, as Sakura likes to call me, at your service." Eriol said, bowing and causing Syaoran to roll his eyes.

"So you really are Clow's heir?" Raiden questioned.

"Yes, I suppose I am his heir, that would be appropriate." Eriol said thoughtfully.

"But why wait so long to come and see us now?" Meiling questioned in what might have been a desperate manner. "Why did you wait until now when things have been so bad?"

Eriol smiled a sad but kind smile at Meiling. "It wasn't really my decision. You see, I inherited Clow's memories when I was…well, when I came here. He is the one who awoke me and he is the one who had his reasons. I know what I'm supposed to do, and I know it's for the right reasons, but I'm afraid that even _I _don't know why."

Tomoyo nodded in agreement. "Yes, Clow was very much like that. He never revealed his reasons. He kept you guessing until you figured it out, then he would explain everything to you. He was very fickle sometimes and didn't want people to know that he would always change his mind."

Eriol smiled warmly at Tomoyo for so quickly defending him. "Yes, Tomoyo is right. Even though I don't know why I've been awoken this late in the battle, I can guess why."

Nobody said anything, they just stood there waiting for him to answer since they most obviously did not know it.

"Are you planning on telling us?" Naoko asked kindly.

Eriol nodded. "Yes, I though the reason was obvious, but I guess I'll have to tell you."

Syaoran glared while everyone else wasn't sure how to react to such a blunt comment. Event though it might have been offending, it was said in such a way that it was impossible to argue.

"You see, things always get darkest, dirtiest, and always make you loose hope right before the light of hope comes shining you right in the face. I believe I am here because the end of this bloody war is nearing its end."

"Are you sure? Is that the only explanation?" Meiling asked.

Eriol shrugged. "Like I said, your guess is as good as mine."

"I think we've established why you're here, but what are we supposed to do now?" Raiden asked, changing the subject.

"I think we should all take a seat for this, it could take a while." Eriol said.

"Come on then," Sakura said, "let's go into the tree house."

Sakura and Syaoran successfully and temporarily cut off all questions and shooed everyone up into the tree house. Once they successfully were able to get everyone settled (which took quite a while) they resumed with Eriol's explanation.

"Alright," Sakura said, "I think we are all ready for the rest of Eriol's explanation.

"Finally," Meiling huffed, "you could have let us ask questions on the way up. It wasn't _that_ big of a deal."

"Oh well, too late for that now." Sakura replied smiling. "Alrighty Eriol, we're all ears."

Eriol smiled his apparently trade mark smile before continuing where he had left off. "I am here because although I am Clow's heir, so is Sakura."

Sakura's smile faltered at the sudden information being shot at her. "W-what?"

Eriol nodded. "You are the heir of his magic."

This calmed Sakura down a bit more. Okay, it was only the magic. She had pretty much assumed that anyway, no big deal.

"Even though I have Clow's memories and I am quite capable of magic, I am not the one who will bring the next heir. That will be you Sakura. You will pick the next person who will inherit Clow's magic, therefore, you are truly Clow's heir."

Sakura looked at Eriol with her mouth only slightly parted. "I have to pick an heir then? It's inevitable?"

Eriol peered at Sakura. "You don't sound exactly happy about training the next heir. That's another reason I'm here, it's because I know that you will not want to train the next heir. Believe me, it's not as bad as you think it will be."

Sakura looked at Eriol disbelievingly.

"Why must she train the next heir? Why is it so necessary?" Tomoyo asked.

Eriol sent another look over Tomoyo like he had earlier that day that caused her to blush like crazy. Just like earlier, Eriol earned a glare from Syaoran's direction.

"It might not seem like the most ideal thing to do now, and you won't have to do it for a very long time, but it is something that will obviously need to be done in the future."

"The one thing I never missed about Clow were how his answers were never really answers." Meiling mumbled.

"But beside that," Syaoran started, trying to take the subject to a different turn, "why else are you here?"

"I am here to help stop Hikari as well, but I'm sure you all assumed that one." Eriol said, brushing the topic aside like it did not really matter, which to the others, it did.

"How do you plan to help us?" Takashi asked. "Are we going to help the army and fight?"

"Not quite," Eriol said, smiling in what looked to be a very evil manner.

OOO

VictorianPearl: I know it's short and I don't have time for question and answer because I'm on a very tight schedule. I am going to update another chapter over Christmas vacation so I'll make sure to make up for everything then. I love you all. Ja ne.


	11. Flight to the East

VictorianPearl: This will be the second time I have to do this. Thank you for bearing with me. Comments will be at the end of this lengthy chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 11

Flight to the East

Touya was growing weary. How long had the battle been going on, hours, days, weeks; he couldn't tell. When the battle had started, all hell broke loose. The first few lines were the toughest to get through. His ears were still buzzing with all of the noise of the loud explosions. It had been so hard to stand up because of the fierce tremors going through the ground.

Yue had fought next to Touya for a little while with his long, white, sword; but, after a while, he flew to the second rank and started to attack them with magic. Touya hadn't seen him since.

A goblin was running at Touya now. Touya's eyes quickly scanned the goblin. He found the weak spot and positioned his sword. The goblin closed in and raised his weapon to strike, but Touya plunged his sword through the weak part of armor in the goblin's chest.

The goblin's eyes widened and it dropped its weapon. Touya put his foot on the goblin's midsection and pulled his sword out. The goblin fell to the ground in a heap. That had been far from the first time that Touya had done that in this battle.

Quickly, while there was a spare moment, Touya scanned the sky in search for Yue-no such luck. There was no sign of Yue's white robes or feathery wings anywhere. Touya cursed. That angel had better not have gone off and killed himself.

There was no time to worry now though, a troll was coming up close, straight ahead. Touya turned and ran back.

"Troll," he yelled, "fall back. We need rope!"

"I've got rope." A soldier cried, running up to Touya.

Touya stopped and waited for the young soldier to unclasp the rope from his belt.

"Are you ready to do this?" Touya asked the young soldier.

The young soldier nodded determinedly. "Yes sir!"

"All right then." Touya said, unraveling the rope. He took one end and threw the other end to the young soldier.

"Do we have archers?" Touya yelled.

"You've got them." Someone yelled.

Touya looked back to see about eight archers lined up behind him.

"On three," he yelled, "one, two, three!"

Touya and the young soldier ran diagonally forward toward the troll. The archers aimed for the troll's head, distracting it from its feet. The two soldiers near the troll got the rope to cross in front of the troll's feet.

They ran in circles, narrowly missing the troll's swinging fists. When the rope was tight around the troll's feet, the two soldiers ran up and tied a quick knot with their ends of the rope. As they dashed away, the troll finally tripped and fell to the ground.

Touya circled around. He ran at the troll and sunk his sword into its head. The troll cried out and jerked, but died a few moments later.

"That makes troll number thirty-four." One of the archers said. It was the same one that had spoken last time.

"You, Touya called, pointing his finger at the archer, "come here."

The archer nodded and bounced over to Touya.

"What's your name?" Touya asked.

"It'll be Simion, sir!" The archer said.

Touya looked the boy over. He had silver hair and deep green eyes that had a blue tint to them. He looked at Touya expectantly. He looked to be a little older than Sakura.

"Have you seen Yue, Simion?" Touya asked.

"Yes sir." Simion replied. "I saw him not more than an hour ago."

"An hour, eh..?" Touya commented. That was a shorted time then the last time he had seen him.

"I want you to take me to where you last saw him." Touya commanded.

"Will do, sir, but it won't be easy to get there." Simion replied.

"That doesn't matter, we need him back at the front rank." Touya said. "Lead the way."

Simion lead Touya through the battlefield, keeping his bow aimed in front of him, Touya saw right away that Simion had a quick eye. The kid could quickly figure out the weak spots in the enemy armor and kill them in one swift shot. He must have restocked his arrows recently because his quiver was fairly full.

As they made their way through the battlefield, Simion killed the orcs and goblins in front of them while Touya took care of the sides and the back. The two, to Touya's surprise, made an excellent team. They were killing the enemy and moving swiftly. Touya could see where it was going though. The easy part was about to end.

"Last time I saw him, he was near those rocks on the hill side." Simion pointed out.

On the declining slope of the hill many large rocks were protruding forth. A small battle could easily take place within them without anyone knowing. Yue was probably within them. It wouldn't have been hard to reach them either, but a large swarm of orcs was between Touya and Simion, and the rocks.

"I'm ready if you are." Touya said, raising his sword.

"I'm more than ready." Simion said, smirking.

The soldier and the archer glanced at one another. When their eyes met, they nodded in agreement. Without further ado, they took off, strait for the rocks. They ran side by side. All they had to do was cut a path through the middle and run through as fast as possible.

"Head to the left toward the orc with the green skin." Touya commanded.

Simion obeyed, swerving to the left. There were quite a few battles going on in that area, but once they would be able to pass it, it wouldn't be too difficult to get toward the rocks.

"So this is it then? We're risking our lives for the angel?" Simion asked, only yards away from the green skinned orc.

"Yes, because he risked his for ours." Touya replied.

Although Simion _wanted_ to question Touya, there was no more time. The two painfully crashed into the orcs. Simion kept his bow loose in his right hand and unsheathed his long white sword with his left.

Touya, who was busy cutting a path, glanced at Simion. "You're left handed?"

"No," Simion replied, "my right arm is just tired from my bow."

Touya cursed inwardly. _'Don't focus on the kid, just concentrate on getting to Yue.'_

The battle continued and Touya was able to temporarily forget about the left handed (not really) archer. As he was fighting, he noticed a light in the sky. Touya glanced up quickly, thinking that perhaps the sky was finally breaking…he was wrong though.

Touya couldn't help but pause as a red glow appeared in the sky. He knew it wasn't good.

"To the rocks!" Touya cried, grabbing Simion's arm and knocking an orc out of the way with the hilt of his sword.

"Everyone, Land's Army, take cover at the rocks!" Touya yelled.

Simion and Touya started knocking orcs out of the way like crazy.

"What's going on?" Simion asked.

"The red light." Touya replied, glancing upward again. It was gathering together to create a force.

"What red light?" Simion asked, knocking an orc in the stomach.

"The one in the sky," Touya said, full of frustration.

Simion glanced upward and shook his head. "Touya, there's no red light in the sky."

Touya glanced upward. The red light had gathered and it wasn't too hard to figure out what would happen next.

"Oh yes there is." Touya replied.

The two soldiers started to run so fast that their legs were burning. They were almost there. Touya bodily shoved an orc out of the way, tightly grabbed Simion, and dove for the rocks.

Moments after the two landed with a heavy _thud_, a red wave was sent rippling down from the sky. The wave soundlessly hit the orcs and noisily sent them flying. A hot wave passed over the field, blowing over Touya's face.

The wave cleared and everyone on the inside of the surrounding rocks was breathing heavily. Many Land's Army soldiers had pressed themselves against the rocks.

"What _was_ that?" Simion asked with wide eyes.

"Red magic, what did you think it was?" Touya said, none-too-kindly.

"Sir, I saw no 'red magic'." Simion said slowly.

"How could you have missed that?" Touya cried. This boy wasn't stupid and by the way he shot his bows, he had clear sight.

Simion didn't reply, staring at Touya with his wide eyes. There was no disbelief in them, but there was a sort of curiosity about them.

Touya looked back at the sky. The clouds parted and there was a red glow, but now there was a gold glow with it. From the clouds, a butterfly woman and a panther with butterfly wings flew down.

"Don't tell me you don't see _them_." Touya said to Simion, nodding his head toward the sky.

Simion looked to the sky. His mouth dropped open wide. "Now _that_ I see,"

The butterfly woman and the panther flew down to the thicket of orcs. The butterfly woman shot red beams of magic at the orcs while the panther shot out beams of gold.

"Look at that." Simion said in awe, leaning forward. "She's just raising her hands and they're all falling around her."

"Simion, she's attacking them with magic." Touya explained as if to a small child.

"I don't see any magic." Simion replied.

Touya eyed the other soldiers. They all seemed to be seeing the same thing as Simion. There was confusion on all of their faces.

Understanding dawned on Touya. He was the only one who could see it because he was the only one who had magic in his blood. Then again, Sakura's friends could all see magic and none of them had any in their blood. What did that explain?

Touya shook his head and stood up. Right now, he needed to find Yue.

"Touya, sir," Simion said, standing up as well, "I'll show you the way."

The young man began to walk off toward the middle of the rocks. Touya followed close behind. The kid was good, that was for sure. He would have to put a good word in for him.

The two soldiers turned a corner and saw Yue. The angel was propped up against a rock. One of his wings was bleeding. His robes were torn and blood stained. Even Yue's long, white, hair was red from blood.

"Yue," Touya called, running to him, "are you alright, my friend?"

Yue opened his eyes and looked up at Touya. "I will live, but it was more than I could take to fight the third rank alone."

"Come on, we have to get you out of here. Help me Simion." Touya said, putting one of Yue's arms around his neck while Simion got the other side.

"Did you see Clow?" Yue asked.

Touya startled at the suddenness of the question. "W-what..? Clow's dead, of course I didn't see him."

"His aura flooded the air." Yue explained. "Don't you feel the buzz of magic, like a sheet of darkness?"

Touya looked at Yue strangely. "No, but there is some magic going on outside the rocks, you had better see."

The three made their way out of the rock bastion. The enemy had fallen back. The butterfly woman and the panther were standing in the middle of the battlefield. The Land's Army was already picking up the dead.

Touya, Yue, and Simion all made their way to the foreign magical beings. Yue was the first to speak.

"You are of Clow, are you not? Who are you and where do you come from?"

The butterfly woman raised an eyebrow at Yue and giggled. "You don't have to be so stiff. I am Ruby Moon and this is my partner Spinnel Sun. We are and are not from Clow."

Touya, Yue, and Simion all wore blank faces.

"You are and aren't from Clow..?" Touya said in a disbelieving tone. "So are you or aren't you?"

"What she _means_ is that we are made by Clow's reincarnation." The panther spoke.

"His…reincarnation...?" Yue asked slowly, a light rising in his voice.

"Yes," Spinnel replied, "master Eriol."

OOO

"Are the members of Neo-Clow's Haven ready?" Sakura asked.

Mumbles and muttering of 'yes' came softly from everyone standing in front of her. It was night and they were all wearing cloaks. Each of them were going, Sakura, Syaoran, Eriol, Naoko, Chiharu, Takashi, Tomoyo, Meiling, and Raiden. They were all about to travel to Hikari's land.

"All right, I'm going to seal the Haven up." Sakura said.

She lifted her hands toward the Haven. The gaps closed up with wood and the trees closed in together. What was once the Haven, now looked like a cluster of trees.

"There's no turning back now." Tomoyo said wistfully, mentally saying goodbye to her home.

"We will travel by night only." Eriol announced the members of the Haven. "We will travel silently, to Hikari, and we will attack with the element of surprise."

"Is that all?" Raiden asked incredulously. "You make it sound so simple. We won't be the first to attempt this."

"I know that." Eriol said, grinning a creepy grin.

Syaoran wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist and bent down to whisper in her ear. "I'll go with you all the way. No matter what happens, I'll always protect you and I'll never let you down."

"Thank you, Syaoran." Sakura whispered back.

Syaoran smiled. "Thanks for letting me think that. I know that you're a capable and powerful sorceress, but to just let you run off to a land that you're unfamiliar with…"

"But isn't that what you've been doing, Syaoran?" Sakura said back.

Syaoran shook his head. "Not at first. Banishment was not my choice, it was my mother's."

Sakura gave Syaoran an odd look, but didn't persist. She knew that he would explain everything to her in time.

The members of Neo-Clow's Haven left their keep hold to risk their lives. They flew through the night toward the east in hopes of taking down Hikari and ending his dark reign. All in a days work.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Do you want to know how many times I typed this chapter?

Li: Even if we said no, we know that you would tell us anyway.

VictorianPearl: That's right. It typed it THREE times. That's a lot.

Li: No kidding.

VictorianPearl: Thank you for your patience. Please R&R. One more thing…

Li: Just spit it out.

VictorianPearl: Kingdom Hearts II is coming out in the spring. I'm so STOKED! I am so excited that words cannot describe.

Li: Your volume seems to explain clearly.

VictorianPearl: Thanks for sticking with me reviewers. Ja ne.


	12. Revealing and Unmasking

VictorianPearl: Due to a strenuous Winter Guard camp, I have been delayed in updating. My next chapter is here though, within the month, as promised.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 12

Revealing and Unmasking

Under cover of night they ran, they ran for many nights. Cloaked in magic and cloaked in darkness, allies of sunlight ran to the east. Those who ran were two heirs of Clow, one magician, one librarian, one warrior, one soldier, two simple folk, and one foreigner. They left their safe haven for darkness.

Syaoran had now been at Tomoeda for one week and five days, starting today. He had been banished to the strange land for accusing the king of murder and spiting upon his throne. He was to have been murdered, but he was redeemed by his mother who traded her body and soul to the darkness to save him.

Upon arrival, Syaoran could already sense the magic of Clow. He met everyone that he now knew within the first two days. He fought monsters within the first two hours. What had started out meaningless now contained meaning. What emotions used to lay dormant were now seemingly palpable.

When barely a week had passed, Syaoran was already risking his life for a girl whom he hardly knew. Yet in little more time than that, secrets that had been so long hidden were finally being rediscovered. Syaoran was the first link to revealing the hidden secrets in this land.

The magic of Clow which had been so long hidden was now discovered. The pieces of the memories of Syaoran's friends and this strange dark force Hikari were the only mysteries that _needed_ to be solved. Syaoran had already dived deep into Sakura's and Raiden's memories, even a small part of Tomoyo's and Clow's. Once all the memories would be gathered, the mystery would be solved.

Instead of the light getting brighter as they traveled east, it got darker. As they entered "Hikari's Land", the light seemed to dissipate completely. The only light was a slight glow that surrounded Raiden due to his magical basis. All the day was gray or darker. There was no sun in the day and no stars or moon at night.

On the night of the fifth day, the group had finished traveling their way over the plains and was setting camp at the edge of a dark and evil wood.

From the outside, the wood looked very clustered and overgrown. There was an odd stench arising from it that smelled suspiciously like tar. The trees were a breed that could not be defined. They might have been oak, but they were far too dark and twisted to be so.

"We'll set up here," Eriol explained, "it's far too dangerous and dark to travel at night. If we start going through at early morning, we should be able to come out and cover a bit more ground before we stop."

Everyone had no problems with this. Takashi had even started to make a smokeless fire already. Tomoyo was laying out blankets for everyone.

"Eriol, I'm going back to that river we passed about ten minutes ago to fill up the pail." Meiling said, swinging a pail in her hand.

"I'm going with you." Raiden said, following close behind her.

As the campsite was completely set up, Tomoyo and Chiharu started to prepare the food they would use on their stew. Takashi tended the fire and Syaoran activated a talisman for protection. Sakura, on the other hand, made her way to Eriol for questions.

"I know that Clow had visited this wood before," Sakura stated, "can you tell me what's in there?"

Eriol rested his hand in his chin and motioned for Sakura to sit down next to him, which she did. They sat in silence for a few moments before Eriol chose to speak.

"Clow entered this wood a very long time ago when it was not yet so evil. When Clow came here, Hikari was not yet so evil. My memories of this wood will only serve us as a sense of direction to get us through. As for what dangers lay in the wood, I only have assumptions."

Sakura smiled at Eriol. "Yes, but assumptions are better than nothing. We're already off to a good start."

Eriol returned the smile. "Thank you Sakura."

"Eriol,"

Eriol and Sakura looked up to see Naoko approaching them.

"I think I know what we can expect to find in the wood." The librarian said.

"Than by al means, sit down and tell us." Eriol mentioned.

Naoko shook her head. "I'll stand. What I want to tell you about is the environment of the wood. When we enter, we mustn't touch anything. We can't sit down to rest, lean against a tree, or eat anything seemingly edible."

"Yes Naoko," Eriol agreed, "you believe it is poisoned?"

Naoko shook her head. "No, I believe that it is what Hikari uses to hypnotize people and beings to add to his army."

OOO

Meiling and Raiden stood at the edge of a river that they had passed by not too long before they had at the edge of the wood. Meiling bent down and let the bucket fill up about three quarters of the way with water while Raiden sat and filled up a few of the water pouches.

"I can't say I'm looking forward to tomorrow, but I am looking forward to fighting." Meiling said. "I'm not sure if this is a good thing, but I've been itching to fight for a while now."

Raiden nodded to show that he understood her. "Yes, coming from you, I know exactly how you feel."

Meiling heaved the bucket up from the river and set it upon the grass, careful as to not spill any of the water.

"What do you mean by, 'coming from you'?"

Raiden capped one of the water pouches and let Meiling's question stay unanswered for a few moments.

"I'm simply saying that due to your circumstances, such as the things that happened to you earlier on in life, it's easy to see why you so desperately want to fight."

Meiling frowned and put her hands on her hips. "You make it sound like I _need_ to fight, like it's something that controls me."

Raiden looked up at the young woman and raised an eyebrow. "Well, isn't it?"

A little bit of smoke seemed to be rising from Meiling's head. "I think you of all people would understand the need to fight, the need to prove that you can defend yourself and keep everyone safe. Don't you ever feel that you need to prove that you're capable?"

Raiden seemed to be angered by this, but his face only faltered for a second, so it was hard to tell.

"Everyone knows what I am capable of." He said in a slow and low voice.

"You're wrong, Raiden." Meiling countered. "Actually, we have no idea what you could be capable of. You've only just gotten your sword back after how many years of having it taken away? None of us really know what kind of magic you can summon from that sword; after all, you were still an apprentice when it was taken away."

Raiden shook his head and put the water pouches into his pack. "Meiling, you fought with me that night when the town was in enmity. You saw exactly what I could do. I risked my life for you!"

Guilt came to Meiling at that comment, but she couldn't stop now, she was proving her point. "That's true, but what about the prophecies? You've been getting magically stronger by the day, what if you've been able to properly foresee into the future, how are we supposed to know any of this when you keep so much to yourself?"

Raiden roughly stood up. "Why are you throwing this all in my face, Meiling? All I did was agree that you needed to fight and now you're mentioning memories that I want to forget."

The pair glared at each other. Raiden though, was the first to lower his defenses. After a few moments of glares being exchanged, he dropped his face and shook his head.

"Let's just go back to the camp."

He said it in such a sorrowful voice that as soon as the words left his mouth, Meiling felt even more guilt ride upon her heart. Before she could counter him though, Raiden walked over and picked up the bucket of water.

"Raiden...I-" Meiling started.

"Let's just go Meiling," Raiden said without emotion, "they're waiting for us back there."

Meiling sighed and followed behind Raiden with slumped shoulders. She hadn't wanted to start a fight with him, heck, she was falling for the guy, but it just came out of her. Why did she have to be the winner of every fight? Couldn't she just learn to be more like Raiden and drop it?

Unanswered questions were reeling through Meiling's mind. They didn't stop when they got to the campsite though, even with all of the talk of Hikari using the wood to hypnotize and manipulate humans and beasts alike to become his followers.

Once the pair had returned to the camp, the atmosphere between them was immediately sensed. Tomoyo's head whipped around to see what was going on, almost as if she could sense all of the negativity in the air.

Dinner was made quickly and eaten quickly. There was hardly any talk, nobody wanted to disturb the quiet coming from the wood. After dinner, Chiharu and Takashi went to wash the cooking utensils and were gone for a suspiciously long amount of time. The comments didn't end for them that night.

Sakura slipped under the blanket. The fire was now a dim glow that didn't give heat unless you put your hands right in front of it. It was a while before everyone fell asleep, but Sakura could not. Syaoran had been busy setting up more talismans and still wasn't asleep in the blankets which were set up next to her.

Thinking that everyone was asleep, Syaoran finally went to his blankets, sitting on top of them. He looked at everyone sleeping around him. He was glad to have the opportunity to sit and think in silence without having to worry about anyone or anything. He felt, during the day, that he always had to be on the immediate alert. There could always be some sort of monster out there or some sort of Eriol to make trouble.

The foreign boy exhaled and felt as if all his burdens were sliding off of his shoulders. It was good to pretend that he had non for a little while. After carrying so many for so long, he almost forgot how heavy they were on him.

"Syaoran," Sakura whispered, sitting up, "are you alright."

Syaoran turned to face the green eyed girl. He observed her dark blue night gown which seemed a bit too large for her small figure.

"I'm alright." He whispered back.

Sakura smiled and moved over to Syaoran. She leaned forward into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'm glad you're alright." Sakura whispered sleepily. "I'm also glad that you want to help us when you could just not. So glad…"

Sakura fell asleep on Syaoran's chest. The young warrior gently laid the girl down. He pulled his blanket over them both and held her tightly to him.

_I would help you no matter what, Sakura. I just hope that after I have helped you out with all of this, you'll want to help me to. Having you there with me would make me feel so much better._

OOO

Ruby Moon and Spinnel Sun had been with the army for one day now. They claimed to be descendants of Clow Reed, but Touya suspected them, especially the butterfly-woman. He didn't trust her. He, the two "descendants", and Yuki were having a discussion in their tent about the latter predicament.

"If you really _are_ made from Clow, then what's my little sister's name?"

"Touya, we've answered that question five times."

"What's her name?"

"Sakura,"

"Her _full_ name,"

"Sorry, Sakura _Kinomoto_,"

"Touya, I think you should give them a break, I believe them and you know that their aura can't lie."

Touya frowned. Yukito was right, they had no choice but to trust them.

"I can't believe I even put up with all of that questioning." Ruby Moon complained. "Clow made me to fight, not to answer petty questions."

"For someone who was made 'to fight'," Spinnel started, "you sure do like to use that mouth of yours a lot."

"What can I say?" Ruby replied. "It comes with the package."

"So what are you going to do now Touya?" Yukito asked rhetorically.

Touya grudged. "I guess you can have your own tent now." He told them. "You don't have to share with us any more."

"And…"

"And…and we'll accept your information about Hikari…I guess."

"Good job Touya."

"Whatever,"

OOO

VictorianPearl: Okay, I'm not sure what that whole last part was about, but that's okay, just a bit of humor.

Chiharu: You know that we all enjoy your humor.

VictorianPearl: Why thank you.

Chiharu: I hope you know that I was joking. That OneShot? starring me was so _not_ funny. I can't believe the things that you made me-mufflemuffle

VictorianPearl: ahemAnyway, please R+R!


	13. Not Quite Out of the Woods

VictorianPearl: I know that my updates have had much more length between them, but I am now consistently updating OneShot? as well. Please check it out, and I hope that you like this chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 13

Not Quite Out of the Woods

The group began their long track through the woods at dawn, Eriol in the lead. The tension between Meiling and Raiden was thick, but the others were forced to ignore, having to pay close attention to what they were doing.

The wood was overgrown and crowded. If there had ever been a path at one point, it was no longer there. It might as well have been night for all of the light the dreaded place got. It was amazing the growth in the place with such a lack of sunlight.

Before they had entered, Eriol went in to inspect the place. He was gone for a good twenty minutes before reemerging. He informed them that they should be fine as long as they didn't eat or drink anything, immediate contact with the forest should not do them harm.

Even with Eriol's warning, everyone was still overly caucus about touching anything. Each time long leaves from the brush would flap against Chiharu's clothing; she would shudder and grab Takashi's hand.

Syaoran, who was close behind Eriol, was hacking mercilessly at the brush, better clearing the path. Although he felt as if he was doing everyone else a service, some of the others weren't so grateful for it.

"Do you _have_ to butcher the forest like that, Syaoran?" Naoko asked, pushing her spectacles upward on her face.

"Would you rather I let the forest reach out and grab you?" Syaoran asked, not so politely for being shunned of his "service".

"It's not that," Naoko explained quickly, "it's because you're _demolishing_ the place that I think you'll get us swallowed up!"

Syaoran pretended he hadn't heard her and continued as he was. Naoko frowned and glared at his back, as if that might make him stop.

"Naoko, love, you have nothing to fear of Syaoran's temperamental actions." Eriol assured, calling back to Naoko. "It's not the forest itself we have to fear, for the most part, it's what's _in_ the forest."

"Such comforting words," Tomoyo muttered.

"I'll second that one." Kero said.

Eriol heard her undertone though. "Don't worry Tomoyo, dear." He turned back to smile at her. "I'll protect you."

Tomoyo blushed lightly and clenched her fists. "Sakura can do that just fine."

Eriol only smiled and continued his weaving through the forest. After hours of weaving, stumbling, jumping, and hacking, the group was fully ready to retire for lunch. Tomoyo and Chiharu immediately began preparing the food.

"Meiling, would you go and get us some wood?" Sakura asked innocently.

"Gladly," Meiling said, glad to get away form Raiden.

It was quiet as she disappeared through the brush. Takashi subtly broke the silence.

"I think someone should go with her."

Everyone's head turned toward Raiden.

Raiden glanced at everyone, appalled. "Fine," he said, grudgingly, "but I'm only going after her because _you_ told me to."

The thunder sorcerer stalked away after Meiling. As soon as he was gone, Sakura dumped some small twigs and wood from her bag. Everyone stared.

"I collected them on the walk." Was her reply, "I have a feeling they'll be gone a while."

OOO

Meiling wandered a bit, close to the stop sight. She had a walking stick in her right hand and a few twigs in her left. She wasn't even trying to look for wood, she was just glad to be away from Raiden's persistent gaze that always seemed to be on her.

The young warrior stopped short to gaze distastefully around the area. Aside from the fact that the place was dark, overgrown, and would have you following Hikari if you ate or drank anything, she didn't see what was so foreboding about it. Perhaps if someone were to get lost…

"No monsters," Meiling muttered, kicking the ground at her good fortune.

"Are you _still_ upset about that?"

Meiling whirled around to see Raiden leaning casually against a tree, studying her thoroughly. She flushed under the watch of his intense blue eyes and scoffed.

"I don't know why _you're _here." Meiling shot, looking sideways at him.

"I'm here to make sure you don't kill yourself." Raiden said, and before Meiling could respond, "The others sent me."

Meiling stopped her mouth of her comment and started a new one in its stead. "Well are you just going to stand there or are you going to help?" She spun around, "looking" for wood.

"Funny you should ask my opinion," Raiden said, a little cockily for his regular demeanor, causing Meiling to completely ignore him, "but since you asked, I tell you 'neither'."

Meiling was wearily confused by his response that made him very much sound like a jerk. She turned around to tell him off, but was sent stumbling backward when he was right behind her.

"What is you _problem_?" Meiling asked desperately. "You're not Raiden, you're some other person. _This _isn't what I meant when I said I wanted to battle monster."

Raiden roughly took Meiling by the shoulders and held her close to him. "We're on the same page then."

"Stop it Raiden." Meiling said. She did not sound angry, or even commanding, she sounded like someone who had been battling something for far too long.

Raiden's hands loosened their hold on her shoulders and slid down to her elbows. "I just feel like you're pushing me away."

Meiling raised an eyebrow at that one. "Oh?"

Raiden shook his head. "It's like, every time we get close, something pulls us apart."

Meiling nodded. "I know what you're talking about."

"No more distance." Raiden announced.

Raiden didn't even give Meiling a chance; he pulled her to him and kissed her warmly. Even after he pulled back and saw the confused and yet dazed look on her face, he continued to trail kisses down her cheeks.

"About time," Meiling muttered, throwing all her sense out the window and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Meanwhile, back at the campsite, the stew was already boiling and Sakura was getting ready to serve everyone. When the bowl of every person was about half way finished, Meiling and Raiden reappeared. Nobody questioned that they were no longer mad at each other, or that they were holding hands, or that they were even blushing, they simply accepted them as they were and asked no questions, to the gratefulness of the latter two.

"Kawaii," Tomoyo muttered, glancing at Raiden and Meiling.

"Uh-oh," Kero mumbled.

"Come on Kero, admit it." Tomoyo persisted.

Kero smiled and nodded, flying over and landing on Tomoyo's shoulder. "Okay, it is kawaii, just don't go crazy okay?"

"I would never," Tomoyo said a little too innocently for her own good.

Eriol stood up. "Okay everyone, we have to get moving if we want to get out of here by nightfall."

Meiling gave a little moan of complaint, not wanting to move from Raiden's arms just yet.

The group grudgingly got up and began to pack up their possessions. When everyone had their packs on their back, they continued as they had before, hacking, jumping, and weaving through the forest.

Now though, after the lovely rest, each of the members from Neo-Clow's Haven were left wearier than before. Sleep began to pass across their eyes and seize their weary muscles. They began to stumble and trip more frequently.

Eriol noticed this and decided to take a break. They happened to stop in a small area where the overgrowth was particularly furious. There was a thick river of deep water that sight could not penetrate, silently flowing through the forest. It made Syaoran uneasy to be next to the river. There was a mystical aura about it that didn't seem right. He knew what this was, of course, but it seemed to draw his attention a little more than it should have.

Syaoran walked up away from the group, not seeming to notice his leave. He slowly came up to stand next to a tree with large roots that plunged into the black depths of the silent river. The deep branches of the tree stretched out long over a large portion of the river.

Syaoran looked behind him. There was a large tree about six feet away from him, blocking his view of some of the group. From where he was standing, he could see Chiharu, Tomoyo, Takashi, Kero, and Naoko, not too far off. He turned his attention back to the water. He slowly leaned over to look into the river. He saw his waving reflection coming back at him, taunting him. He suddenly became very curious as to how the water might feel against his hands.

"Syaoran?"

Syaoran snapped back to reality to see Sakura standing next to him, staring intently.

"We need to move on." Syaoran said quickly, realizing the strong influence the river had over him.

The young man started to go back to where everyone else was sitting, but slipped on the sleek ground, sending him falling into the water. A smooth feeling enveloped Syaoran, but along with the smoothness came the biting of cold. He felt himself suspended in the black water, and found that he somewhat liked it. He didn't want to have to leave the rushing coolness of the current and the silence of the place.

He wasn't sure how it happened, but there was a point when he realized that he was now staring at the canopy of trees above him. He couldn't feel anything, he was completely numb. There was a dazed look to everything. The air seemed to waver before him. Air…his lungs were burning with lack of air. That's right, he needed to breathe.

The water rose from within Syaoran's lungs and came sputtering out in a violent and painful cough. He vaguely heard someone shouting something about moving away. His vision was becoming hazy and something that was not his own mind was taking over.

A man with glasses came into his vision. There was a red light, and then warmness enveloped him. He was beginning to realize how cold he was. There were many voices talking now, some were high pitched and some were not. They sounded frantic, _scared_ even.

The combining and swarming of sounds were beginning to swarm and pound upon his head. Syaoran tried desperately to separate the sounds, but could not. Flashes were now crossing in front of his eyes. He saw a distant vision of a man handing him his sword. The man looked familiar, but he couldn't remember. He then saw a lovely lady in a silk garment that was very beautiful. They were at a ball and an evil man was staring at her. They were now watching the man who had given him the sword walk away while four girls and the lady cried. There was a fireplace, a throne, a jail, a ship, and someone else. A girl…there was a girl!

"Sakura!"

Syaoran breathed in painfully. His chest heaved and his vision cleared. The sounds separated and the pounding in his head lessoned considerably. He now saw Eriol and Sakura leaning over him, one with a troubled look and one with a frightened one.

"Syaoran…" Sakura trailed.

"Sakura," Syaoran choked, "I saw you that first day, Sakura."

Sakura leaned over, hope filling her very being.

Eriol leaned over and whispered something into Sakura's ear. Syaoran watched as her eyes widened and she looked at Syaoran with crystal eyes.

"You're alright!"

The girl threw herself onto Syaoran, tightly wrapping her arms around the young man. Syaoran coughed, trying to breathe properly, but didn't move Sakura, trying to listen to what she was saying.

"I was so worried." She cried. "You fell in, and we thought you were gone, but then Eriol pulled you up, he said he would try and fight the hypnotizing magic out of you, but your eyes were all glazed over and we thought that we had lost you, but then we didn't, I'm so happy!"

The distraught girl had said it all in one voice, glad to see that her love hadn't been taken over by the power of the black river. Syaoran put one hand on her back while the other slowly and carefully pushed them up into a sitting position. He didn't have energy to move much, or even _breathe_ much, but he sure as hell had energy to send Eriol a glare.

"Nice place to choose to rest, jack-ass." Syaoran spat, putting as much venom into his words as his lungs would allow.

Sakura was too happy crying on his shoulder to even scold him for cursing Eriol when he had just saved his life. Eriol simply smiled at the foreign boy.

"At least they're getting along." Naoko muttered, now coming closer upon outlook that Syaoran was indeed, not under any spell.

"You're very strong Syaoran, although, I don't think you realize." Raiden told the young man. "You just overcame Hikari's magic; he is one of the most powerful single influences in these lands."

"I think you underestimate me." Syaoran managed. "I don't come from these lands, so it's just like me to have an immunity of sorts to the magic in this land."

"I think that translates into 'thank you'." Meiling muttered into Raiden's ear.

Sakura finally caught her head enough to transfuse some of her magic into Syaoran for energy. When they were ably to continue through the forest again, they did just the same as before, save the hacking.

When they finally exited the forest, it was well into night fall. The water had been their only enemy, but what was ahead of them would make the water look like whipped cream. The grass and trees ended and the very edge of the forest. What were in front of them were rocks, dirt, and jagged land. There were large protrusions sticking up from the earth with an extremely foreboding look. In the distance, there appeared to be a great castle.

"These lands are Hikari's domain." Eriol commented. "I hope you're all ready to walk through hell tomorrow."

OOO

VictorianPearl: Did you like that ending there? Anyway, like Meiling had thought earlier, the forest itself wasn't necessarily hostile; it was simply the spell that Hikari had placed on it.

Meiling: See, I'm smart and cute!

VictorianPearl: Yes you are dear. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please R&R and tell me what you think. What do you think will happen next? Tell me your predictions! I'll even tell you how close you are:)


	14. Light and the Shadows

VictorianPearl: I apologize for the hiatus. I hope you're all ready for some ass kicking, because this is where it begins.

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 14

Light and the Shadows

"All right, let's go." Eriol announced, walking down the rugged ground toward Hikari's fortress.

"Wait one second there." Syaoran said, grabbing the back of Eriol's pack and pulling him toward the group.

"What's wrong?" Eriol asked, glancing at Syaoran over his shoulder.

Syaoran gave Eriol a glare. "What do you mean, _what's wrong_? Don't we need a plan of action? What's your battle strategy?"

Eriol blinked his sapphire blue eyes. "We go in and take Hikari down."

There was silence as Syaoran waited for Eriol to continue, when he did not, Syaoran gave a sarcastic smile.

"I figured as much." Syaoran said dryly. "Really though, what's our plan of action? You know this land so you must have some sort of strategy."

Eriol nodded. "I just said, we go in and attack Hikari directly."

"What about his armies?" Syaoran said.

"I'll alert the Land's Army." Eriol replied.

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Um…I have magic."

The rest of the group looked from Syaoran, to Eriol, and then back to Syaoran.

"You don't have a strategy, do you?" Syaoran asked, his disbelief catching up with him.

Eriol shrugged. "Not one that you're satisfied with, apparently."

Raiden walked up next to Syaoran. "I agree with Syaoran. If we're about to risk our lives for the sake of this land, I would like to know that even though I'm dieing, it's still going to be rescued because there's a full proof plan to back it up. Somehow, improvising this doesn't seem wise to me."

Syaoran looked at Raiden and nodded. "Yeah, what he said."

Everyone turned to look at Eriol.

"I think you forget that I'm an age old magician and that my plans are usually farfetched but full proof at the same time." Eriol said cleverly.

"I'll agree with the farfetched," Chiharu said, "as for the full proof, I'm not so sure."

"What reason have I given you to doubt me?" Eriol asked. "I got you through the wood, didn't I?"

"You also burned yourself down in your house." Meiling replied. "My parents sacrificed their life for you, until recently, I thought it was for nothing, and I was just beginning to think differently…"

"Wrong," Eriol said, "your parents sacrificed their life for Clow, as you can see, I am not Clow."

This comment seemed to make Meiling's temper go crazy and Tomoyo had to come up behind her and place her hands on Meiling's shoulders.

"Eriol, you're not helping the situation." Tomoyo said.

"Why don't we just create our _own_ plan?" Naoko suggested. "This isn't how I thought it would end up either, but due to circumstance, I think it's the best option."

Everyone, save Eriol, nodded eagerly. They grouped up to form a circle. In the middle of the circle were Naoko, Takashi, and Kero, whom all knew the land and strategies the best, aside from Eriol. Kero drew a rough sketch of the land in the hard dirt. He would have used magic, but Hikari would easily be able to detect it from this distance, and being found out without a plan at this point was not a good thing.

To continue though, Kero drew the rough sketch and Takashi marked where the troops were. Naoko then organized the best attack plan to their advantage. They went in a circle, making sure that they were forgetting nothing. Although Hikari was their main target, there were a few minions to take down along the way.

For one, Sakura and Syaoran had a bone to pick with Lestat. Raiden wanted to find out Hikari's right hand men, whom he theorized had something to do with the attempted steal at his sword and the murder of his sister. Chiharu, although she probably wouldn't do too much fighting, wanted the armies destroyed for hurting Takashi, this was a bit much to ask though, considering that the Land's Army had been doing that for years and they were still full of monsters. Meiling and Raiden also wanted to rid the monsters after that night when the village was in chaos and Yoshiyuki had stolen the sword back for Raiden. Kero wanted revenge for Clow, Naoko wanted to stop the suffering. Tomoyo was the one who reminded everyone of the better good, and not to think of revenge so much. Her words were heard, but she wasn't sure if anyone was actually taking her seriously.

"He set me up to look like a criminal." Eriol explained. "I'll never forgive him for that."

"What about, _I am not Clow_?" Meiling mocked. "They technically didn't set _you_ up then, did they?"

Eriol crossed his arms and smirked. "Maybe not, but Clow is something like a father to me."

Everyone rolled their eyes at this one and continued with the strategy. It took a while and had to be explained to everyone a few times because it was rather confusing. Eventually, everyone caught on; that's when they started to work up their nerve. They'd been waiting years for this day, now it was time to make it happen.

"Remember," Sakura warned, "this plan-treat it as more of a guideline. Things aren't going to play directly into our hands. We have to be prepared for anything and we must remember to keep our wits when the situation gets out of hand, because it probably will. If worst comes to worst, we'll have to follow Eriol's way of things and improvise."

This earned her some mumbles and weary looks. Kero flew up and put his little paws right on her nose.

"Sakura, I always told you that you were a smart girl." Kero whined. "Ever since _he _came along though," Kero glared at Syaoran, "you've been acting like you're _not_ such a smart girl."

Sakura put her hands out and let Kero land on them. She smiled at her long time friend and guardian. "I think that Clow's magic is finally getting to me."

With that said, she released the little guardian and turned toward the desolate fortress of Hikari. She was ready for this, she had to be. It was his fault for all of the pain in this land. He was responsible for her father's death, for suffering, hell, he was responsible for the absence of clair. It was hard not to think solely of revenge, she had to focus on the greater good, as Tomoyo had said, but that greater good just lead to thoughts off all the suffering again.

"Are you ready?" Syaoran asked, coming to stand beside Sakura.

Sakura looked at him and smiled. "As ready as I'll ever be."

OOO

There were many troops patrolling the inside and outside of the rusty gates surrounding Hikari's fortress. These weren't just your average guards either, these were some nasty looking goblins. These goblins had blue scales and green eyes with helms carved of stone. Their mail shirts were covered by armor plates that had crude symbols engraved onto them. Their appearance was frightening, that much was obvious.

_Phase 1_

Golden bursts of magic shot out like a meteor shower upon the troops. The goblins' skin was magic proof though, and so it merely served as a reason for them to look up into the sky. What they saw was a flying lion with two humans upon its back. One was a female with long dark hair and ruby eyes, the other was a blonde male with electric blue eyes.

The shower of magic continued. The goblins grabbed their arrows and began firing. Thanks to Kero's impressive magic skills, the arrows disintegrated before they had the chance to reach his amazing height distance. Kero began to fly around to the right side of the fortress.

"Now's the time, Raiden," Meiling said.

Raiden nodded and raised his sword out slightly from his position behind Meiling. Lightning bolts bombarded the rusty gates. Even though the gates were protected by strong magic, they seemed to quiver greatly under the lightning attack. Raiden didn't have to push himself too much, he just thought of Clair's face as he sent another onslaught of electricity toward the gates.

The gates quivered again, but managed to hold. Kero swung back around and made his way toward the gates. The arrows were becoming dangerously close and their obvious entrance wasn't helping since more troops were being sent to the area.

"Kero, I need you to get us a little closer." Raiden yelled over the noise of the yells of goblins.

Kero responded with a bust of golden light, temporarily blinding the goblins below. With this one chance, he dipped down low toward the gate. Raiden swung his sword at the front of the gates, sending them flying straight off their hinges. With the chance taken and the deed done, Kero flew high into the air and made his way around to the back of the fortress.

The goblins flooded after the flying lion, but they weren't stupid, there were still quite a gracious amount of troops left to guard the front entrance. Because the fortress was built into the back of a small, but rocky, mountain, that left only one entryway…one _obvious_ entryway, to say the least.

Kero flew to the back right direction of the fortress near the base of the small mountain, sending the goblins outside the gates, but not too far to be unbelievable. Now that Raiden and Meiling's part was over for now, they held on for dear life as Kero dove from arrows and made up some sort of diversion that looked to be planned.

_Phase 2_

"I like how you never mentioned that going in and taking Hikari down included going through a secret passage that only Clow, supposedly, knew about, along with Hikari and his close minions." Syaoran commented as he, Eriol, Tomoyo and Chiharu ran through the "secret tunnel" that supposedly led to some unused honeycomb at the bottom of the fortress.

"I like to keep surprising you guys." Eriol said, jogging lightly.

"Did you ever think that maybe this was a, oh, I don't know, _serious_ _matter_?" Chiharu said angrily, trying to talk and run at the same time. "I don't think keeping us on suspense at what could end up being the end of our _lives_ five minutes before hand is a good idea."

"Stop being such a pessimist." Eriol called back.

Tomoyo and Chiharu glanced at each other with looks saying, _this one is cracked_, easily readable on their faces.

Syaoran focused on Sakura's face in his mind. _Remember, you're doing this for her. When it's all done, she'll help you too. But even if something happens and that makes my help not possible to return, it's for her. Everything in the past is a blur, but everything that happened in Tomoeda was made worth remembering because she was there._

Syaoran nodded with approval at his thinking process. Yep, he could do this. He hadn't trained all of his life out of revenge for nothing after all! All those years of training in the back yard and his want to hurry and get back to his mother were all paying off.

"How much longer do we have to go?" Tomoyo asked.

"About half a mile," Eriol called.

"We're going-to be-so tired from running-that we won't-be able-to breathe when we-get there." Tomoyo managed, gasping for breath and forcing her legs to keep going.

"You're so out of shape, love." Eriol said to Tomoyo, turning back to look at her. "Once this is all over, you and I will have to go running together, won't we?"

Tomoyo might have thrown him a glare, but unfortunately, the struggle to _breathe_ was taking up all of her emotional power at the moment.

_Half a mile later_

Panting, tired, but still ready for action, the four took a short break. They were leaning against the cool rocky and earthen walls of the tunnel. Tomoyo was on her knees, leaning forward against the wall with her eyes closed. Chiharu had also taken a temporary seat on the floor. Syaoran and Eriol remained standing, almost daring the other to sit down first.

Syaoran looked down the tunnel to see where they were heading blindly into next. The name _honeycomb_, as he saw, was not lightly given. He could make out the uneven stone walls that rose up half way to the ceiling (more or less) which seemed to fill the room as far as the darkness would allow him to see.

"I hope Clow knows how to get through there." Syaoran said with complete seriousness.

Eriol walked over to the entrance of the honeycomb basement and looked inside. "My memory serves me little, and using magic isn't an option just yet, so we'll have to go without."

"Does that mean that you can't remember?" Chiharu asked, getting up and walking towards the two males.

"No," Eriol said, "I simply cannot recall at the moment, but I'm sure I'll remember once we start walking through the honeycomb."

"So tell me, _why_ exactly did Hikari build a honeycomb in the 'unused dungeon' section of the fortress?" Syaoran asked, more sarcastic than anything.

"Hikari knew that Clow would eventually stop him one day, or at least attempt to, in his opinion." Eriol said. "He built this to make sure that the back way would prove difficult for the unfamiliar to get through."

"So that means…there are _obstacles_ in there?" Tomoyo asked incredulously. When Eriol shook his head, she then burst out. "What did we _just_ say about informing us of danger before it happens?"

"There is a safe way through." Eriol assured. "As you can see, Hikari would rather see people suffer than just close the entrance off. We'll be fine with me as the guide."

"Somehow, I'm not so sure." Chiharu whispered into Tomoyo's ear.

Tomoyo shrugged exasperatedly. "You're not the only one."

Eriol began to walk into the honeycomb. Syaoran had his sword activated and Tomoyo and Chiharu were cautiously lagging behind a bit. If there really were booby traps, which they were pretty sure there were, and Eriol's memory served him wrong, at least he would get the first hit.

The four advanced through the maze of stone walls. It wasn't quiet down in the dungeon, water drops could be heard as well as the faint blowing of horns from above.

"It seems that the first part of the plan is working fairly well so far." Eriol commented, turning to look at everyone behind him.

As soon as he turned, Tomoyo and Chiharu quickly motioned for him to immediately turn back around.

"Don't take your eyes off of the path for a _second_!" Chiharu cried softly. "If you accidentally walk down the wrong path and get your head chopped off, the rest of us are stuck here without you and your ruddy memory what are we to do!"

"I'm glad to see that you're confident in my abilities." Eriol said approvingly to Chiharu, but did keep his eyes ahead after that.

It seemed that they were progressing through the honeycomb fairly easily. Eriol had to stop a couple of time to recollect his memory, but other than that, they were safe for the moment. At this point, Syaoran judged that they were more than halfway through.

Chiharu was on double alert. Every water drop, every faint sound of a horn, she jumped and carefully searched the walls about her. She was just beginning to relax when a growling sound made her jump up again.

"Eriol," Chiharu questioned in a small voice, "are you sure that you took the correct pathway a little ways back."

"Of course I'm sure." Eriol said.

Chiharu tried to calm herself as she clutched Tomoyo's arm. Maybe she was imagining things. She _was_ extremely anxious at the moment, it could have been her nerves. When she heard the sound again though, she knew that it was, indeed, _not_ her nerves creating the growling noise.

"Eriol, Syaoran," Chiharu said in a panicky tone, "something is coming."

Eriol and Syaoran paused in front of Tomoyo and Chiharu, listening for an approaching enemy. After a few moments, another low growl was heard. The two girls clutched to each other as they waited.

Syaoran waited for the growl to come again. When it did, he figured out the direction it was coming from.

"Eriol," Syaoran whispered slowly, "can we use magic yet?"

Eriol shook his head. "Not yet,"

Syaoran tightened a little. Not being able to use magic just made this situation more difficult. He slowly looked up toward the ceiling. In the shadows of the few torches in the honeycomb, was a bat-like creature, the size of a well grown man.

When the creature saw that it was spotted, it dropped down into the honeycomb directly between the males and the females, separating them. The creature, which also looked creepily related to a man, turned its eyes upon the ladies of the group. With its momentary delay though, Syaoran took full advantage of nailing the bat in the shoulder with the hilt of his sword.

The two girls ran past the creature and Syaoran to stand behind Eriol. The bat creature turned to look at Syaoran. It was covered in brown hair with sticky bat wings that were folded behind its back. It had black eyes and pointy teeth to go with pointy talons on its hands and feet.

Syaoran held up his sword. "Eriol, make sure that you stay a little distance away."

Eriol pulled the girls behind the next corner, watching the battle that was about to take place.

Syaoran held up his sword in a manner that suggested his was daring the bat to attack. The bat snarled and obliged to the suggestion, throwing itself at Syaoran. Syaoran, in turn, brought up his knee and got it in the stomach. He then brought up his elbow and nailed it in the side of the head. This battle would be difficult, considering that he could not let the bat pass him and therefore could not move from his current position.

The bat attacked with its talons this time, swiping at Syaoran's face. Syaoran ducked and brought his leg around under the bat, knocking it off of its feet. The bat used its wings to save it from the fall and swing back up into standing position. It screeched and flapped its wings a bit.

_This is not good._ If that bat got angry enough, it might fly over to Eriol and the girls, attacking them instead. That now caused the battle to have a time limit which was quickly ticking by.

The bat flew up a little and tried to dive bomb attack Syaoran. Syaoran thrust his sword up, causing the bat to go flying right into it. There was a sickening squeal from both the bat and the two girls watching. The bat flapped its wings, pulling itself back out of the sword. It shrieked at Syaoran and went for another attack, but it was loosing blood quickly.

Syaoran swiped at the bat's chest, sending a deep horizontal cut. He hoped that it might back down, but it seemed intent to fight to the end, and with nothing to loose, it turned nasty.

The bat dove at Syaoran's legs, knocking him to the ground. Syaoran hit the stone hard. He mentally cursed as he quickly gave hard kicks to the bat in attempt to get it off of him.

"Syaoran," Tomoyo began, but Eriol quickly covered her mouth and pushed her back to Chiharu's care.

Syaoran finally dislodged the creature from him and quickly scrambled up. Either out of stupidity or just to test his luck, he wasn't sure, but Syaoran threw the sword through the air with great strength and accuracy, sending it piercing the bat's neck.

Thankfully, Tomoyo and Chiharu missed that one. Syaoran sighed, glad that _that_ was over, as he went to pull his sword out of the dead bat. He walked around the corner to Eriol and the girls.

"Get us out of here." He commanded bitterly. "Next time, we had better be able to use magic."

Eriol nodded and decided that maybe for this _one_ time and this one time only, he shouldn't tease Syaoran on what he had done. Whether Eriol was being courteous or smart, we don't know, but Syaoran sure as hell was glad that there wasn't any feedback on his battle.

A few more twists and intersections later and they came to a straight shot to a large door. The straight shot included going up a small and narrow staircase to an old wooden door that didn't look like it could be easily breeched.

"Once we pass through those doors, we are completely in Hikari's domain." Eriol said, turning to look at his three companions. "Are you ready?"

The three nodded, and with that, Eriol lead them to the solid looking door for their next part in the plan.

_Phase 3_

Sakura and Takashi began to walk toward the gates and all of the goblins guarding them. They were undetected for the moment, but they would not be for too much longer.

"Takashi, this could mean death, are you sure you want to follow up." Sakura asked.

"Of course I'm sure." Takashi replied. "If I wasn't, I'd be waiting for the Land's Army with Naoko."

Sakura nodded. They were currently in a dip in the ground that had large rocks about it, covering the two quite well. They were about fifty meters from the front gates and were about to risk everything to get in.

"To go to death," Sakura said, putting her hand out.

"And to face it wearily," Takashi said, taking her hand.

They shook hands before climbing out of the dip and making their way to the beginning of the third phase.

OOO

VictorianPearl: What a nice long chapter to read after spring break. I've started a new method of just typing the chapters instead of writing them out first. Let me tell you, it's easier and less time consuming. Plus, when I go back to edit, I only have to do it once.

Li: Amazing.

VictorianPearl: I know! Plus, now that I've defeated Kingdom Hearts II and now only have the cute side missions left to complete, I can find time to come to the computer and write again.

Li: Yeah, your obsession with that game was a little over the edge. Even all of your friends commented on how hard core you were.

VictorianPearl: Speaking of hard core, I have recently been turned into a hard core RoxasXNaminé fan. I can't get enough of the fictions out there, and the pairing will be included in the new fiction I'm starting.

Li: The new fiction, _Golden Rays_, shouldn't get in the way of the last few _Lucid Darkness_ updates either. You've already got three and a half chapters typed up.

VictorianPearl: Like I said, I discovered free typing without first writing. Please R&R, I'm sorry I made you all wait so long!


	15. Breaking All Gates

VictorianPearl: I hope you're all ready for hell to break loose, because this is where it starts.

**Lucid Darkness**

**Chapter 15**

**Breaking All Gates**

"Sakura, I hope the others had enough time." Takashi commented.

Sakura nodded. "Syaoran was leading them so I'm sure that they're fine."

It did not take long before all of the goblins and monsters noticed Sakura and Takashi standing at the base of the battlefield. It was a little odd to behold. There was a young man and woman, holding hands, and just standing there. They had no weapons and they certainly didn't look as if they were about to enter battle. Oh well, the monsters had orders to take the cherry blossom to the leader, above all else, get the cherry blossom to the leader. With these commands in mind, the goblins and monsters left the duty of trying to bring down the golden lion and started to go after the descendent of Clow.

OOO

"Master Hikari, sire." A soldier of high ranking said, entering Hikari's chamber and bowing before him.

"Tell me of the battle." Hikari commanded.

"Well, that's difficult to say, sire."

"What is so difficult about it?"

"Nothing, that's exactly it, there are hardly any soldiers from the light side battling."

Hikari crossed his arms. He was sitting on a large throne in the shadows of the room. The light from the open door barely illuminated his outline.

"What have the scouts reported?" Hikari questioned.

"The Land's Army is still quite a ways off, but it appears that they are making their way here." The soldier replied.

"How far off?"

"About two hours march away, sire."

The soldier looked up from his bowing position. He wasn't sure what Hikari was doing, but if he had to guess, he would be smirking right now.

"Is the cherry blossom captive yet?" Hikari asked, sounding a little anxious.

"Not as of five minutes ago, sire." The soldier replied. "Although, the troops have been reminded of their strict commands to capture her and not to harm her."

Hikari nodded, or, the soldier guessed that he nodded. The shadows swirled around his face in an almost approving way. "Yes, but lastly, what of that foreigner that has been with her for the past few weeks? What of him?"

"He…he is nowhere to be found." The soldier replied.

There was another pause on Hikari's part as he though things through. "Make sure you have Lestat guarding the lower levels, I don't want any worms digging through my fortress."

OOO

Eriol gently rubbed a hand against the old wood of the double doors leading into Hikari's domain. He put up his other hand against the door and pushed on them. He carefully stepped back a few paces, making sure not to step back onto the stairs where his three companions currently were.

"So, now what?" Syaoran asked. "If we can't use magic yet, can we bust this door down?"

"It's not a matter of if we can do it or not, it's a matter of if we can do it _quietly_ or not." Eriol replied.

"There doesn't appear to be a lock or device holding the doors fast." Tomoyo pointed out. "Couldn't we just try to _push_ them open like regular doors?"

"And let what's on the other side jump out at us?" Syaoran asked incredulously. "We have to be more cautious than that."

"Unfortunately, Syaoran, that appears to be our only option." Eriol replied.

Chiharu cursed under her breath and Tomoyo smiled triumphantly.

"What are you so happy about?" Syaoran asked, glaring at Tomoyo. "You're _glad_ that we get to jump blindly into danger? Not to mention, a danger that could easily get you killed."

"You hit the nail on the head." Chiharu commented dryly. "Let's just do this and get this over with. I don't see how postponing it makes anything better."

"It's settled then." Eriol said cheerfully. "Syaoran, you help me push these doors open. Tomoyo and Chiharu…" He looked the two girls up and down. "I hope you've got some switchblades hidden in their."

Tomoyo put her hands to her face in an embarrassed blush while Chiharu gave Eriol a glare that made Syaoran proud.

"On three," Eriol commanded.

"One, two, three…"

_BOOM_

Sakura lifted her hand and created a large shield, causing the army to go crashing against it like water on the rocks. The army was pounding on the shield now; it wouldn't be long before it gave way. She gave a look behind her.

"Are you alright Takashi?"

Takashi nodded determinedly.

As the some of the army retreated to collect a device to break the shield, Kero took this opportunity to show himself again. He spit fire upon the retreating goblins, sending the earth in flames and heating the dead ground. This, unfortunately for the army, caused then to send more reinforcements away from Sakura to try again to take down the lion.

The commander of the evil army was at the front of the shield, trying to break it down with his sword. He was a teal skinned goblin with long dark hair and white streaks. His entire body was pretty much coated in a bronze armor. He snorted as he saw the lion.

"Double up on the barrier." He shouted to his troops.

Sakura smiled, they had no idea what was in store for them.

OOO

As soon as Sakura and Takashi appeared, Kero had disappeared. When the appearance of the thing that Hikari deemed as most important and wanted more than anything came, it caused the entire army to glance over. Just for one second. In that one second, Kero flew with swiftness over where the gates used to be and up into the safety of the mountain.

Meiling and Raiden jumped off of Kero to hide behind a large rock. They were quite a ways up the base of the mountain, but not more than two stories high. Directly in front of them was Hikari's castle, a square figure that had three tall towers reaching up to quite a height.

To the left of our three heroes was the goblin army, swarming out the gates to attack Sakura and Takashi. There were goblins left guarding the castle doors up a very long set of stairs.

Meiling gasped as a large purple shield suddenly surrounded Sakura and Takashi, awarding their ears with a loud explosive sound of the army crashing into it. Almost immediately, reinforcements were being sent back.

"That's my cue." Kero said, before leaping into the air and taking flight again.

Raiden and Meiling watched as he attacked the forces retreating back to the castle. Meiling turned to Raiden.

"So now what are we supposed to do? We're no help here."

"We need to go through that 'secret entrance' that Eriol was talking about. Raiden replied. "We can travel up here on the mountain back to the edge of the forest where it starts."

Meiling nodded. "Alright then,"

Raiden grabbed her hand and they started dodging behind rocks, making their way around the back of the castle.

OOO

The doors were sent flying open, making a noise so loud that it was almost impossible to not have been heard. Syaoran and Eriol braced themselves as they found that the room was…

"Empty?" Syaoran voiced.

"Hiiya!" Chiharu shouted as she and Tomoyo jumped out brandishing switchblades, which they apparently _were_ hiding somewhere in their dresses.

The room was dark and musty. By the looks of it, it was the wine cellar. There were large barrels stacked up against the walls and large cases forming aisles with bottles filling the shelves.

"He hasn't changed a bit." Eriol replied, dusting off a random bottle that he picked off of the shelf.

"Is he a big drinker?" Syaoran asked, closing the doors back up.

"Not so much a drinker as he is a _collector_, oddly enough." Eriol replied.

Tomoyo began to walk in between the aisles a little bit, examining the shelves. Her quiet observing was interrupted by a door being opened at the top of a set of stairs on the far side of the room. A bleak light shown in, not illuminating the room, but sending a warning signal for the five young adults in the back.

"What's going on down there?" A deep male voice asked.

_Hide! _Eriol mouthed.

Eriol himself ducked behind some barrels against the wall to the left of the doors they had entered. Syaoran slid his body into the bottom shelf of a case near Eriol, careful not to disturb the bottles which were now hiding his form. Chiharu and Tomoyo both hid behind different sets of barrels against the wall opposite of Eriol and Syaoran.

The form belonging to the voice that had spoken descended the stairs and began weaving around the shelves.

"Is anyone down here? If that's you again, Simmon? I swear I'm going to deal with you personally if it is."

The voice was still on the other side of the room, but it was making its way to the back with a steady pace. When it made its way to the back, Syaoran could see that it was a young man who couldn't be much older than 19 or 20. He had white blond hair and blue eyes, from what Syaoran could tell. He had a short sword slightly raised in his right hand.

"When I get you Simmon…" The young man mumbled.

He started to turn away, but something caught his eyes.

"I _knew_ you were down here. Just wait until I-"

He grabbed behind the barrels and pulled out, to his surprise, a girl that was most definitely _not_ Simmon. He stared in surprise at the girl he had taken by the arm.

"You…You made that racket?" The young man asked.

"Umm…maybe?" Tomoyo answered, flustered and scared at being caught.

"I'm sorry lady, but I'm going to have to report you."

They young man started to drag her away when Tomoyo started to talk again.

"You don't want to do that."

"Why not," The young man asked, "you obviously don't belong here."

"You're right, I don't." Tomoyo straightened a little with confidence. "But I _do_ have a few friends that are hidden right now with their weapons out, so if you take me, they take you."

The young man looked at her incredulously. "You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Tomoyo asked, eyebrow raised. "Perhaps one of my friends would like to step out and show how serious I am."

Syaoran took the opportunity to quickly and quietly slip out from the bottom shelf. The young man had most of his back to Syaoran and was gazing wearily at Tomoyo. Syaoran cleared his throat to catch the man's attention.

The young man turned and opened his mouth at the sight of Syaoran standing before him, pulling his sword from his belt.

"Where-where did you come from?"

Syaoran smirked. "Is that really an issue?"

The young man looked back at Tomoyo, who looked triumphant, and then at Syaoran again. He looked a little defeated, but held his sword up all the same.

"I still plan to take the girl with me." The young man said.

"You plan to challenge me?" Syaoran asked simply.

"I must, for the honor of Hikari." He replied.

Syaoran was going to comment, but was held against it. In this man's eyes, he saw the same desire that he had known when doing all possible to bring Wu down in his father's name. He couldn't bring himself to go against him, but he couldn't let him go by either.

"Do you know who we are?" Syaoran asked.

This question seemed to surprise the young man, but did not move him. "You're in league with the cherry blossom aren't you?"

"Exactly," Syaoran replied, "now that you know that, you have to attack me. If you don't, I'm sure you can guess what I'll do when I'm past you."

This time, the young man did seem hesitant in his position. "I…I-can't…I can't just stand here." He lowered his sword. "I want to join your side."

"_What?_" Chiharu cried, falling out into the open from her hiding place.

The young man spared her a perplexed look before returning his attention back to Syaoran.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Syaoran asked, wondering what could have moved that determined look in his eyes.

"Well, let's just say I didn't exactly ask for this job." The young man replied.

Syaoran nodded. "Yes, but how do I know that I can trust your word."

With this, the young man brought up his sword and slit a deep cut in his right hand. "A brothers' oath."

Syaoran nodded again and followed suit, cutting into his right hand with his own sword. "A brothers' oath."

They firmly clasped hands and kept eye contact.

Eriol had now also come out of his hiding place and was standing next to Chiharu.

"So then," Syaoran started, "what's your name?"

The young man's eyes seemed to burn with pride before he answered. "My name is Kyo."

OOO

Hikari now stood in his private tower, facing the fortress gates…or where the gates used to be. He watched as the heir of Clow defended herself against his army's attempts to break her shield.

"Not much longer now." Hikari mumbled. "Even with your master's reincarnation, it will be no different when it comes to my taking you."

OOO

Naoko paced at the edge of the forest. She was supposed to be waiting to guide the Land's Army toward the fortress once they got there. Naoko looked up into the trees. There was neither sight nor sound of the Land's Army, though. When they would arrive could be in the next two minutes or the next two hours.

Naoko sighed and plopped right down on the grass where she had been standing. She wasn't one for battles and fighting. She was a _librarian_. What business did she have being here? Strategies, solving puzzles, _that_ was her game.

She glanced wearily at the short dagger that she had been entrusted to for self defense. Unfortunately, due to the small numbers they had, nobody could be spared to wait for the army with her. It was not a dangerous job, but it was awfully anxious.

Because she was anxious, and bored, and perhaps, feeling useless, Naoko decided to go on a perimeter check. She carefully sheathed the dagger in the scabbard that was at her waist before she stood up. She climbed to the nearest tree and jumped, grabbing onto the lowest limb. She started to walk her feet up the trunk toward the branch, but she lost her holding and fell.

Poor Naoko lay flat on her back with all of the air knocked right out of her. She breathed a few breaths before standing back up and jumping again. This time, Naoko swung one of her legs up around the branch and proceeded to awkwardly twist herself until she was sitting on the branch very much like a witch would ride her broom.

Careful to keep her balance this time, Naoko stood up and reached for the next branch. As the branches became thicker, she began to feel more confident about keeping her balance. When she reached the top, Naoko proceeded with her perimeter check. From where she was, she could make out a battle going on in front of Hikari's castle, but it was difficult to tell what was going on. As she looked in the other direction, she could see the span of land that they had covered to get here.

Naoko squinted her eyes at the distance. She gasped in happiness as she recognized the banners and flags of the Land's Army, marching steadily onward. They weren't all that far away either.

Naoko giggled in happiness. She quickly climbed down the tree in her giddiness. She didn't even notice how close she came to falling again as she slipped down off the last branch. When she was on the ground, she twirled and clapped her hands. It was only a matter of time.

OOO

"Well, you didn't need much convincing to join up with us, did you?" Chiharu asked Kyo.

Currently, Kyo was leading Syaoran, Eriol, Tomoyo, and Chiharu through some of the old and unused hallways in the fortress, leading up to Hikari's quarters. They were doing a lot of darting and running as quietly as possible down many corridors that looked the same.

"Chiharu, don't be so rude." Eriol chided. "We need as many allies as we can get."

"Don't say that in front of him." Chiharu glared, glancing at Kyo.

"It's alright, Eriol, I'm not offended." Kyo said. "I can understand why she feels that way."

They took a left turn and darted into a closet on the right side of the hallway. Kyo peered around and listened for his fellow resident to make sure the coast was clear.

"I'm with Chiharu," Tomoyo added, "I want to know your motives."

Kyo opened his mouth to speak, but Syaoran interrupted. "It doesn't matter now. We've already given ourselves to him. And beside, he took the brothers' oath. That in itself cannot be broken without a price even a minion of Hikari would be unwilling to pay."

Kyo did not say anything, rather he gave Syaoran a quick and grateful look. Syaoran saw the confused looks of the two girls, but he didn't expect them to understand. It was gust like him when he came to Tomoeda. He was new, and almost immediately upon arrival, was proclaimed evil by a villager. It was Sakura who blindly trusted him and had allowed him to change himself. He went from lonely, friendless, and emotionless, to reaping all of the things he had been lacking. In a way, he saw Kyo as a version of himself, the only one able to do the right thing in such an oppressing environment.

"Alright, I think it's safe to go." Kyo said.

He opened the door and they ran into the hallway. The sounds of soft padding and labored breathing were all that was coming from them. At the end of the dank, stone, hallway, only a right turn could be made. They flew around the corner, but Kyo inhaled sharply and dug his heels into the ground and spread his arms behind him, stopping everyone from going any further. His face was pale and his breathing became more labored.

"Going somewhere?"

In front of the five young adults stood the one person that Sakura hated the most out of anyone. The vampire Lestat stood tall, clothed in his black cloak and wearing his helm that was carved of demons. He smirked at the young man in front of him.

"Looks like Hikari's got a larger rat than usual living in his castle." The dead-man commented.

"Y-y-you…what…" but Kyo seemed to be at a complete loss for words.

"I'll deal with you later." Lestat said, glaring at Kyo and Eriol both. "For now, I'm to take down the foreign boy."

"What's wrong?" Syaoran taunted. "You don't have your buddies backing you up this time."

Lestat's smirk broadened. "Perhaps, but this time, we're on my playing field."

Kyo looked back toward Syaoran who nodded toward the end of the hall. "I'll catch up with you later. Just get the others out of here. Eriol will know what to do." Syaoran gave Eriol a glare just for extra measure to point out that if he didn't know then he had better think of something good, and fast.

Kyo nodded at Syaoran and ran past Lestat. When Chiharu's skirts had whipped around the corner and out of sight, Syaoran brought up his sword.

"I'm guessing Hikari already know I'm here then, eh?"

Lestat didn't move. "He's been expecting you. But unfortunately, he will never get the chance to speak with you. I'm sure he won't be disappointed."

Syaoran tightly gripped his sword with both hands in front of him. "This time, I _will_ kill you."

OOO

VictorianPearl: Alright, that was obviously set up for a fight scene, which you will get in the next chapter.

Li: What's up with this Kyo guy? Where did _he_ come from?

VictorianPearl: He came from my imagination. He's the inside man, if you will.

Li: One more question. How many more chapters do you plan to torment the poor viewers with?

VictorianPearl: Oh…about four more, but I'm not sure if that includes the epilogue or not. My goal, and this is only a goal folks, not set in stone, is to finish this story either before, or by the time it becomes a year old.

Li: So basically, it will be finished by July 14th or before.

VictorianPearl: Well, that is the goal, yes. I've been busy with orientation for college, grad parties, working, and appointments. All of that ends now though, and I'll have the rest of July pretty much without interruptions.

Li: But when you say the rest, you really just mean the first 14 day for writing, right?

VictorianPearl: Yes, that's right.


	16. All That Is Holy

VictorianPearl: The countdown of the chapters begins. We've only got a few more left so just hand in there!

**Lucid Darkness**

**Chapter 16**

**All That is Holy**

Kyo lead his newly found allies further up through the castle. They flew up stares, down halls, and nearly got caught more times than one, but they somehow managed to make it through safely. They stopped to catch their breath in front of a large ornate door.

"I'm going to hide you guys in here." Kyo said, resting a hand on the door. "I'll go back by myself to help Syaoran; it'll be faster that way. Do you know what you're going to do next?"

Eriol smiled. "We will wait for you and Syaoran to return and then we'll make our siege."

Kyo nodded and opened the door for his three companions. They walked into the room, squinting their eyes.

"It's so dark in here." Tomoyo commented.

Kyo stepped into the room and shut the door.

"What…I thought you were going to go help Syaoran." Chiharu said. "You need to make sure that vampire doesn't drain him of all he's got!"

"No, no, I'm sure Syaoran will be just fine by himself." Kyo replied. "Here, let me get you a little light."

In a flash, many candles were lit throughout the room. Eriol put a hand on both Tomoyo and Chiharu's shoulders and pulled them back to stand behind him. He was not alarmed, but he was completely aware.

There were many shuttered windows along the far wall and the right wall. The room was extremely large and contained many strange objects and artifacts. In the middle of the room sat a man, a beautiful man. He was clad in war wear, but that did not seem to dim his appearance. He had long silver hair, golden skin, and deep brown eyes. He sat upon a mahogany chair with intrinsic carvings all over it.

Kyo walked past Eriol, Tomoyo, and Chiharu. He stood before the man in the chair and then bowed onto one knee.

"Lord Hikari…"

OOO

Outside the castle gates, Sakura was still holding her own, but the shield was nearing the end of its life span. The goblin general finally called all of his troops away from Kero and pressed them to the shield. It only took a few sieges to break the shield.

The purple shield that had been surrounding Sakura and Takashi broke in a shower of purple crystals. Sakura and Takashi could hardly intake breath before they were caught up by the army and were being carried toward the doors of the fortress.

The goblin general was sprinting toward the doors. He had Sakura in his clutches and was going to be the one who delivered such a prized possession to his lord. He had been dreaming of this day for a while, being able to take the rumored heir of Clow in all her power. He did admit though, he thought, from all of the stories he had heard, it might be a bit more difficult to get a hold of her. But no matter, it only made his job and rise to power all the more easy.

As the crazed rush to the doors began, it was as if the waters were parting, all of the goblins parted and allowed the general and his former, who were carrying Sakura and Takashi pass through. The two latter goblins started up the steps when a great shake of the earth almost caused them to go tumbling down.

"Don't stop, we've got to deliver these two no matter what." The general yelled to him former, seeing the wavering look that came as the ground shook.

In a great burst, water came up in geysers at the feet of the stairs. They burst up inside of the gates and poured into the stronghold. They sent most of the army flowing to the outskirts of the gates. When they tried to get back in through the entrance, they found that they could not because the water struck them so strongly.

At the top of the stairs, the goblin general looked back to see what had become of his army. He was not happy with what he saw. He shifted Sakura on his shoulder, throwing her up into the air a little. "You are too late in your attempts."

The goblin general and his former ran into the fortress and pushed the doors close on the flooding grounds.

OOO

Syaoran and Lestat circled each other, each holding their own sword up. There was no talk or taunting, Lestat immediately started the battle by lunging at Syaoran. Syaoran dodged to the side and countered. He pressed the vampire back, gaining the upper hand.

The battle was tight fit in the little hallway, giving both competitors trouble. This was especially true with Lestat, who had to adjust his usual free and long movements into the smaller space so that his sword wouldn't scrape against the wall and leave him open for attack.

The two enemies parried and defended, attacked and opposed, trying their hardest to eliminate their opponent. Syaoran was beginning to have a little trouble about one minute into the battle. Lestat began to attack relentlessly and without a pause, only giving Syaoran time to block, and barely that.

The dead man pressed the foreign boy back further down the hall. Syaoran had to do something fast. He was surged with adrenalin and knocked his sword into Lestat's, causing it to go flying out of the vampire's hands. It clanged a way down the hall. Not giving Lestat time to recover, Syaoran pushed his sword right through the man's heart until his sword was sticking out on the other side.

Lestat froze and looked down, hunching over a bit. He put his hands to his chest. Syaoran pulled his sword out and backed up a little. He watched as Lestat gave a little cough. He was surprised when the man started laughing.

"Did you think that defeating me would be that easy?" He laughed. "I'm not like your storybook vampires, young one. It will take more than a pretty sword to defeat me."

Syaoran became slightly more worried, but didn't allow it to show. "Perhaps not, but there is a way to kill you and I will find it."

Syaoran lunged at Lestat and began to cut him. Lestat managed to dodge most of Syaoran's attacks. He got a few cuts, but brushed it off rather easily.

"There is no way to kill the undead. Just give in." The dead man taunted.

Lestat lunged forward and punched Sora in the gut. His punch was powerful and sent Syaoran sprawling down on the hallway floor and his sword clattered next to him. The vampire walked away from Syaoran to retrieve his sword. He smiled at the boy on the floor, catching his breath. A black aura began to surround Lestat.

"You have no idea what kind of power you have gotten yourself mixed up with." Lestat said, lifting his arms up and letting the black aura seep in.

Syaoran watched as Lestat took a deep breath. The cuts Syaoran had managed closed up. He quickly grabbed his sword and stood back up. His opponent pointed his sword at him.

"Well then, shall we continue?"

Syaoran glared, as if he really had a choice. He raised his sword and jumped back into battle. He was caught off guard a bit by the strength of Lestat's new power. With one stroke he almost managed to disarm Syaoran again, who only barely managed to keep hold of his sword.

As they continued, Syaoran was having trouble keeping his own, it wasn't long before he had a long cut across the bicep of his left arm. The satisfaction could be seen on Lestat's face that he had just drawn the first blood from his opponent.

"Once you're dead, I'm going to suck you dry of all you're worth." Lestat said, the thirst for blood glazing across his eyes.

"And once _you're_ dead," Syaoran started, "I'm going to kill your master along with the rest of this place."

Lestat chuckled. "Such large dreams, it's too bad you're not skillful or powerful enough to complete any of them."

They pressed their swords together tightly, not wanting to give in. Syaoran was getting so hot from the pressure that he was sure that sparks would start to fly out at any minute. It became too much and he had to withdraw and jump back. He dropped to the ground and swept his legs underneath Lestat, bringing him to his back on the ground.

Syaoran took no time piercing Lestat with his sword again, this time, right in the throat. This attack did seem to stun the vampire, and it also seemed to be extremely painful, but alas, it did not kill him.

Lestat brought his legs up and swiftly kicked Syaoran in the chest. Yet again, the young man was thrown back a few feet to land on his back, his sword clanging beside him. Syaoran had to recover from having the wind knocked out of him. He breathed haggardly as he watch Lestat get up and use the aura yet again to close the gaping hole in his throat.

Syaoran hurriedly looked down to get his sword when something caught his eye. The pink crystal necklace that Sakura had given him had come out from under his shirt and was peacefully sparkling on the front of his tunic. Syaoran slowly looked up to Lestat and grabbed his sword. _Not like storybooks, eh?_

Syaoran ripped off the necklace and produced an ofeuda. He threw them in the air and forced the blunt edge of his sword against them where they stuck, forming an odd light.

"Let's see how you battle this." Syaoran said darkly.

Light exploded from the sword and struck Lestat like an engulfing lightning bolt, completely blinding the entire hallway. Syaoran squinted his eyes tightly but held his sword in place. Finally, when the light died down, the ofeuda and the necklace gently fell to the floor, making a bell-like sound. All the was left of Lestat was his demon carved helm, which clattered loudly to the floor.

Syaoran mentally apologized to Sakura for taking the deed upon himself to kill her father's murder while he picked up the paper and put on the necklace. He quickly began to run toward the end of the hallway where Kyo and the others had disappeared not so long ago. Before he could make it though, he ran into Kyo at the end of the hallway.

"Syaoran, we have to hurry."

OOO

Eriol, Tomoyo, and Chiharu could only watch as Hikari and Kyo began to decide their fates. This had most definitely _not_ been in the plan. Because they could not afford to fail at this mission, they had hardly thought of what would happen if they were to. But wasn't being captured the same thing as failing?

"What of the foreigner?" Hikari asked.

"We left him and Lestat to battle." Kyo replied, not moving from his kneeling position.

Hikari placed his chin in his hand. "I will admit, Kyo, I did not expect you to be so successful. Where did you find the intruders?"

"In the cellar, my lord," Kyo replied.

Hikari smirked at this. "So it appears Clow has a better memory than I thought."

"Never underestimate your opponent." Eriol said lightly.

Hikari's smirk widened. "Indeed not." He grabbed a little item off of his desk that looked very much like a conch. He spoke into it. "Captain Ichiro, I need you to escort two young ladies down to the dungeons. They'll be waiting for you in my office."

Tomoyo and Chiharu both clutched at either of Eriol's arms at this comment. Tomoyo's eyes were fearful, but Chiharu's were mixed with a strong emotion of anger. She was directing her glare right at Kyo's kneeling form.

"As for you, Kyo," Hikari started, "go and make sure Lestat won that battle. If not, bring the boy back to me…alive, if you please."

"As you wish." Kyo said. He stood and bowed low to Hikari before turning to walk out of the room.

As Kyo passed the three companions, Chiharu lost her temper.

"Traitor!" The girl yelled, spitting at his feet.

Kyo turned to look at her, but made no move. "It is your own fault for putting your trust in a minion of Hikari."

"But you made the-"

Eriol gripped Chiharu's shoulder tightly, shaking his head, warning her not to go on. Kyo continued out of the room. Almost immediately after the door was shut by Kyo, it was reopened by two extremely gruff looking men that were at least two and a half time wider than Eriol.

"Captain," Hikari greeted, motioning his hand toward Chiharu and Tomoyo, "if you could please, and be gentle, we need them for black mail and they must be in tact."

"Right away, sir." One of the men said. They both bowed though and each one took one girl, keeping her hands in a tight lock from behind and leading them out.

Chiharu fought to get her hands free, but the size and strength of her captors' hands were outnumbered by her own. Tomoyo did not fight, but she had the opportunity to glance back at Eriol before she was taken out. It was a questioning look, wondering if everything would be alright, for his sake more than hers. His look was more or less the same as it always was, the mysterious smile, the careless look in his eyes. Tomoyo could only hope that this was a good sign as she was forced out into the hallway.

As the door shut, Eriol turned back to Hikari, who still had the same evil smirk plastered to his face.

"Well then Clow, you didn't think I'd let you go so easily now, did you?"

OOO

As Tomoyo and Chiharu were lead out into the hall, Tomoyo searched around with her eyes. Both Kyo and Syaoran were not in sight; she could only hope this was a good thing.

"The dungeons," Chiharu huffed under her breath, barely audible, "I've managed to stay out of them my entire life until now."

The two girls were lead down the hallway in the same direction they had come from. Instead of taking a left turn, which would eventually lead them past the area where they left Syaoran, they took a right turn. After a hallway and a left turn, they were lead to a set of rusty double doors.

The Captain with the hold on Tomoyo kept one hand on her wrists and used the other to jumble with his keys. When he finally found the right one, he placed it in the key hole and turned, earning an extremely loud _clank_. He proceeded to pull one of the heavy doors open with a loud screeching sound.

"You there, what do you thing you're doing?"

The guards turned back down the hall toward the voices. Standing at the end of the hallway were Meiling and Raiden, who had his sword out and ready.

"Where did you come from?" One of the captains asked.

The new pair just stood their glaring at him before Raiden commanded, "Let them go."

The Captain holding Tomoyo laughed and thrust his prisoner to the other captain. He drew his sword and walked forward toward Raiden.

"It seems like the dungeons will be adding two more to the list." The captain taunted.

Raiden continued his persistent glare toward the advancing captain. The captain grinned raised his sword and swung downward. Raiden dodged to the left and slammed the hilt of his sword into the side of the captain's face, knocking him unconscious.

The other captain, not wanting to loose his prisoners, shoved them both through the rusty door, slammed it shut, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. He also drew his sword.

"You're going to be sorry for that." The captain growled.

"No, I don't think I will." Raiden replied.

The sorcerer stepped forward and his blade met halfway with the captains. They stood their, attempting to press the other back. Raiden grew tired of this and summoned a lightning bolt, sending the other captain into unconsciousness.

"Raiden," Meiling started, gazing at the two unconscious forms, "that was…so cheap."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Raiden replied, looking back over his shoulder. "Besides, after that death maze, I'm not in the mood for more hesitations."

Meiling decided it was better not to any more on the subject. She walked over to Raiden as he removed the key from the captain's pocket. He unlocked the dungeon door, only to have Tomoyo and Chiharu come crashing into him.

Raiden managed to keep his footing, but both of the girls fell onto the floor.

Meiling ran over to help the two girls up while Raiden scanned the hallway. He watched as Meiling calmed the girls down for they seemed in a very panicky mood.

"Where are Syaoran and Eriol?" Raiden asked.

The two girls looked at him with wide eyes.

"We were forced to leave Syaoran behind to fight Lestat." Tomoyo said.

"Alright, then you should take us to him right away." Raiden said.

"NO!" Both girls shouted, gripping onto either of Raiden's arms to stop him from going anywhere.

"You can't," Chiharu said alarmingly softly, "they already know about where he is. They've probably already gotten him."

"I somehow doubt that Syaoran could be captured by them." Raiden said, starting to walk away, but the girls pulled him back.

"You don't understand." Tomoyo explained. "We've been betrayed."

"By Eriol?" Raiden asked.

Tomoyo shook her head. "No, he has him already."

At this comment, both Raiden and Tomoyo's faces became extremely serious.

"_Who_ already has him?" Raiden questioned.

"Hikari,"

OOO

Back in Hikari's office, Eriol was waiting patiently for what was about to happen. He had been alone with his rival for about five minutes. Nobody had said anything. The man had hardly even glanced at Eriol. Eriol, in turn, patiently waited.

There was a sudden and loud knock on the door, but neither man flinched or showed sign of surprise.

"Come in," Hikari commanded.

Eriol watched silently, and as emotionlessly as possible as Sakura and Takashi were dragged into the room. A goblin general and his former lead them in, their wrists bound behind their backs.

"Here you are Lord Hikari," the goblin general started with a bow, "we have delivered you the blossom and her companion, completely unharmed."

Hikari smiled his most wicked smile yet, his eyes burning into Sakura, who stared straight back. He stood up at this and walked around to stand beside his chair.

"You caused me more trouble than you're worth." Hikari said, although he didn't at all look displeased. "I'm going to enjoy our future time together." At this statement, his eyes seemed to crackle with excitement.

To his great surprise, Sakura smiled and gave a little giggle.

To say that Hikari was at a loss of words could hardly describe his pure amazement at the situation. In all the years he had pictured this moment, she was always cowering, crying, glaring, begging, but most certainly not _smiling_.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said cheerfully, "but you wouldn't be very happy with me."

She seemed to glow a light blue color now. Her binds suddenly fell to the ground in tatters, causing her captor to yell out in anger and surprise. What stunned the room next was when, in a bright blue flash, Sakura was no longer standing there, but a pretty girl with long hair, a long kimono, and many mirrors. She smiled and then vanished in a set of blue sparkles.

Hikari didn't even attempt to look calm, anger was plainly written out on his face. His deep brown eyes now had an unmistakable shade of crimson. The aura around him seemed to glow red. His head shot toward Takashi.

"Take him to the dungeons with the others. I want to make sure that he does not forget his visit here." Hikari commanded.

"Yes my Lord." The general said, he and his commander bowing.

Before the two could move though, Takashi also took on a new form. He became a formless object with a kaleidoscope of patterns which vanished just like the girl had.

Hikari's aura was positively crackling now. His gaze forcefully rested on Eriol, who was much too intelligent to give him a smile like he usually would have.

"You and your damned magic," he seethed, "once I have the blossom in my care, your existence will be useless and I will personally dispose of you and enjoy every second of it."

"If you are going to blame me for my magic, don't." Eriol said calmly. "You seem to mistake me for my former."

This did nothing to improve the situation.

"Shall…shall we take him to the dungeons?" The general asked.

"No," Hikari said, his eyes not leaving Eriol, "this one stays with me."

OOO

_Music for Syaoran vs. Lestat: "One Winged Angel"_

VictorianPearl: The long wait is over! We're starting to get to the end of this story.

Li: About time.

VictorianPearl: Well, what can you do? For anyone who might be interested in pictures of my senior formal and prom, go to "http / community (dot) webshots (dot) com/ user/ NessyMouse" Just fill in the spaces, put dots where the word dot is and leave out the quotation marks. You know how it works.

For some reason it downloaded 2 of the same album, so just click on the one with 10 photos, not the one with 7. Until next time. Ja ne.


	17. Broken And Betrayed

VictorianPearl: It's a good thing I decided to write this chapter out first, that's for sure, because my home computer crashed two days after I made the decision to write it out. I've uploaded this after I've gone back to school and gained internet access on my laptop.

**Lucid Darkness**

**Chapter 17**

**Broken and Betrayed**

Sakura was traumatized at a very young age. When she was ten, she discovered that some villagers were planning on burning down the house of the man she had considered a father…with him in it. She remembered walking with Tomoyo to go visit Clow that night like they usually did, but the shouts of the villagers and the shadows the torches cast changed everything.

At first, denial came into play. These people couldn't be serious about what they were doing. But when a ringleader stood on a barrel with his pitchfork and encouraged the throng, she knew they were serious. She and Tomoyo ran between the cobbled ally ways to avoid being seen by them, all the way to Clow's house.

At that young age, Sakura could do nothing to help or save Clow. No matter that he didn't want to be saved, if she had been older and more mature, things might have been different. She might not have been able to do anything for the one she loved most then, but that was all different now. Sakura was no longer a child and she was not saving just one loved one, but many, including those that did not lover her back. She was getting rid of an evil and she was bringing back some light to a land too long without it. Sakura was no longer naïve; she was now a hero.

OOO

Eriol's eyes moved as he watched Hikari pace back and forth. The usual casual smirk upon his face was replaced by a serious, boarder-line frown. Even the mischievous light that usually inhabited his eyes had been hidden back for the sake of appearing less like his former.

"It took me ages to kill you," Hikari muttered, peering out his tower window, "and once you were _finally_ dead I knew it was too good to be true, too _easy_."

A witty and elusive remark would have usually been inserted here, but of course Eriol knew when not to talk.

"Your army might be nearly here, but _they_ will not be so lucky in entering." Hikari said, throwing a glare at Eriol. "For even if they did somehow manage to get past my army, they'll never make it through the gates due to that damn flood. You heir has condemned you against aid…not that there was any hope of it reaching you in the first place.

Eriol kept his face serious and void, but he rejoiced inwardly. The Land's Army was nearly here…and Hikari knew nothing yet of Ruby or Spinnel.

The blue-eyed magician quickly glanced to the door and then back to Hikari, who was intently watching his troops outside. Kyo had not yet returned, nor the two captains, and whether for better or worse, Eriol didn't want Hikari's attention on it.

There was little Eriol could do how. Although he was a magician, he was not as powerful as Clow had been and he was alone. Although, to escape would be pointless, for Hikari was their goal and had no idea as to where any of his other friends were…except perhaps the girls in the dungeon. He just hoped that something would happen soon.

OOO

Raiden paced back and forth in the grey, stone, hallway, his arms crossed and his shocking blue eyes troubled. He, Tomoyo, Meiling, and Chiharu had just pushed the two unconscious captains into the dungeon and locked the door (Raiden keeping the key in his breast pocket).

The problem at hand was grave and their options few. As far as they knew, Eriol was with Hikari and Syaoran was with a double traitor at unknown whereabouts. Any move Raiden's team now decided to make left them with slim chances. A decision had to be made fast though before the chances changed.

The first option was to go straight to Hikari in hopes (or ill favor) that both Eriol and Syaoran were there and that they might take him until Sakura showed up.

The second option was to run to where Syaoran had been left in hopes of intercepting him, and if he was already gone, hurry toward Hikari in hopes they weren't too late. The third and final option was to find Sakura. This was the most hopeless for they had no clue where she was now or how long it would take to find her…and time was short.

"Raiden," Meiling spoke, interrupting his thoughts, "I know this is difficult, but we have to get moving quickly, the captains' absence could soon be reported and the dungeon is the first place they'll be headed."

Raiden nodded and glanced at the three girls. It wasn't that he didn't think they could take care of themselves, but assuming Eriol was his only other ally against Hikari…he wasn't sure how they would fare against magic, and he had no clue what caliber of magic it would be.

"Well…which option do you girls think we should attempt?" Raiden asked. "Go straight for Hikari, go seek out Sakura, or should we attempt to see if Syaoran is not yet a hostage?"

"Syaoran," Tomoyo said quietly, "we should go find out Syaoran."

Chiharu and Meiling nodded in agreement.

Raiden's eyes hardened in resolve. "Alright, let's do it!"

But before Raiden could turn around, he was interrupted.

OOO

Syaoran ran past the helm that was left from Lestat toward the end of the hallway. He rounded the corner of where he had last seen his friends only to find Kyo at the end of the hall running toward him. Syaoran was relieved to see his ally.

"Kyo, I've defeated Lestat, take me back to the others." Syaoran said, approaching the blonde boy.

Kyo stopped in front of Syaoran, his eyes troubled. He caught his breath a moment before saying, "Syaoran, I've done something, the only thing I could do, but I swear I have _not_ betrayed you."

Syaoran frowned, not liking where this conversation was headed. "What happened?"

Kyo's blue eyes looked sideways uncomfortably. "When I was leading them away, we were not intercepted by any in the halls…but the walls have eyes. I know there is dark magic in this fortress and I know it found us…so I _had_ to…"

Syaoran's alarm rose. Kyo didn't have to continue, he already knew what had happened, what Kyo had been forced to do.

"Are…are they alright?" Syaoran asked, desperation seeping into his tone.

"Yes," Kyo nodded, although it didn't do too much for Syaoran's relief, "the two girls were sent to the dungeon while the magician was contained in Hikari's presence."

"So…was turning them in _really_ the only option?" Syaoran asked, staring hard into Kyo's eyes.

The young man nodded. "I knew I had to get back to you to lead you to them, for if I had been captured with them you might never had found us. Although we are evil spawn, traitors have far more to be afraid of than anything else."

Syaoran heard the man and understood to an extent, but it sure made things more complicated. He sighed in frustration.

"Who should we save first?" Syaoran questioned, gripping his sword pendent.

"Harm is more likely to happen upon the maidens." Kyo replied. "Hikari kept the magician with him because he has a high value to him and will be needed alive for at least a little while longer. In the dungeons though…they could be easily tortured or killed."

Syaoran's brown eyes clouded. He was not in a position where time was an advantage, but this "ally" in front of him…

Kyo caught Syaoran's look and held up his right hand, revealing the deep red wound lashed across the middle of his palm. This caused Syaoran to glance at his own wound, his resolve hardened.

"Lead the way to the dungeons."

There was no break for the two young men attempting to bring down the rule of power in their homelands; they went straight to running down the staircases toward the floor containing the main dungeon doors. They soon arrived to the doors and it was to their great surprise to find the two females along with another female and male outside the dungeon doors.

"You're alright!" Syaoran gasped, bending down to grab his knees, letting the relief wash over him.

There were cries from Tomoyo and Chiharu, gaining Syaoran's attention right away. He saw Chiharu marching up with an intent glare in her eyes toward Kyo.

"Waaaait just one moment." Syaoran said, catching Chiharu by the shoulders and leading her away from Kyo.

"That, that _traitor_, don't trust him Syaoran, he's no better than the rest of the scum here!" Chiharu spat, pointing at Kyo.

"He's not a traitor," Syaoran assured, "he told me what happened."

"Oh _did_ he?"

"Chiharu, let's listen to what Syaoran will tell us." Raiden said, walking up with the other two girls, ready to hear an explanation.

Syaoran looked toward Kyo, who nodded and began his explanation.

"I did not betray you, as you think I have. You see, the walls of this fortress are enchanted. The rooms heard the words that we spoke. If I were not to have turned you in, I surely would have been with you in that dungeon, and Syaoran would have been racing blindly through the castle, only to fight Hikari alone."

"He would not have been alone." Chiharu said lowly. "He would have had Eriol maybe, and Sakura."

Kyo stared at her, as if waiting for her to explain more.

Syaoran put a hand on Kyo's shoulder. "We actually do have reinforcements."

OOO

Sakura and Takashi had made it inside the castle. While Sakura's reflection was causing havoc with the flood, Sakura created the dark army's armor for herself and Takashi to wear. They managed to slip in right through the front gates behind the goblins who had captured the Sakura and Takashi doubles.

The two still had on their armor, pretending to patrol hallways, but really climbing the stories up to Hikari's lair. Sakura and Takashi ran up yet another set of stairs that spiraled up to the next floor.

The two friends knelt in a dark corner. Sakura traced her finger on the stone floor. Following her finger was a bright pink light. She traced a circle with a star design. She then placed her right hand over the light work and whispered enchanted words. The light work glowed brighter casting its light in an upright direction.

"Higher still?" Takashi asked rhetorically.

Sakura and Takashi stood and proceeded to find the next set of stairs to lead them higher. Thankfully, the ruckus they had caused outside had left the halls short of guards.

Reaching the next floor, the two heroes searched this floor for Hikari as well. Sakura stopped Takashi with her hand when she saw it. There was a set of grand double doors…or at least more grand than any of the other doors in the fortress. Although Takashi could not feel it though, Sakura could literally see Hikari's dark aura seeping from under the door, casting a cloud in the hallway.

Sakura swallowed hard and proceeded to remover her helmet. Takashi followed her and they removed all of the dark armor. Sakura glanced down at her black dress once they were done. She gripped her skirt tightly, preparing herself for the most dangerous thing she was about to ever do.

Takashi was not given a verbal signal, but when Sakura began to walk forward, with a light emanating from her, he took that as the cue. His mortal eyes did not see the darkness fighting to slip back under the door away from the light.

Sakura went up and placed both of her hands on either of the double doors. The light became greater and greater. Noise began to sound from the other side of door. The noise got greater and greater until it appeared that Sakura took a deep breath and the door exploded into dust and a great flash of light filled the entire floor of the fortress.

Takashi drew his knife and waited for the light to subside. When the light finally did return to simply outlining Sakura, the young man saw a great many things happen in about the span of a second. First Sakura and Hikari seemed to meet each other halfway across the great room in some magical binding duel the literally caused sparks to fly. Eriol summoned a staff and shot a fireball out the window, and the rest of the members of Neo-Clow's Haven arrived to a skidding halt behind Takashi.

"What the _hell_?" Syaoran exclaimed, his eyes growing wide (by Takashi's guess) from the sight of Hikari more than anything.

"Come," Said Kyo, grabbing both Meiling and Chiharu, "you two must help me keep the guards back."

"I'll take Tomoyo this way." Takashi said, pulling his friend one way down the hall while the other two went in the opposite direction.

Eriol thrust his staff into the ground and a great quake was sent throughout the fortress, temporarily gaining Hikari's attention. Sakura lunged into the man, knocking them both onto the ground.

"You can try to best me, but you won't be able to, little blossom." Hikari taunted.

Sakura and Hikari's hands were struggling wildly in a battle for power, her hands shining light and his emanating dark. Syaoran wanted to run in and help, but he hardly saw how he could at the moment. He noticed that Raiden stood very much the same way. His thoughts were interrupted though as Kero, in his transformed glory, landed on the singed hole in the wall that was a window. Somehow though, he wasn't comforted by the beast's presence as it only made Hikari smile.

"Five against one? That doesn't seem fair now does it?" Hikari said wickedly.

A red light began to glow around on the ground around him and he suddenly flipped over so that he was now on top of Sakura. Syaoran ran up to his love, but was stopped as a shadow goblin jumped from the red light between him and his destination.

Syaoran sliced through the shadow's abdomen with his sword, but the creature only repaired itself with the shadows. Syaoran pulled Sakura's necklace off again and wrapped it around his hand before placing it back on his sword.

The shadow leapt at Syaoran, but this time when his sword collided, it shown and the creature dissipated. The young man glanced at Eriol and Raiden, who had also taken care of a few creatures by ways of magic. He returned his attention to Sakura though, and began to run toward her, but was stopped again.

A great shake of the tower sent everyone in the room flying across it. The top of the tower was ripped off as great beams of red magic burst through the stone. Eriol, thinking quickly, activated a shield in the air, protecting those on the ground from chunks of flying stone and wood.

Above the tower flew Kero and two other magical creatures that only Eriol recognized. Yet again though, as Hikari only appeared to be outnumbered, he simply stood and laughed. He walked to the middle of his now disastrous office and smirked up at those flying above him.

"You can destroy my entire castle and army, but you can _never_ destroy me." Hikari shouted.

Hikari used his hands to send what looked to be a great ball of acid to the sky. Raiden swung an energy ball from his sword to hit the ball out of its path. It was slightly successful as it missed a full hit on the butterfly woman, but it still singed the edge of her wing.

The panther took a turn to roar at Hikari. "We are taking down your army, we will take down your castle and we _will_ take down you as well."

Suddenly Sakura was near to Hikari, glaring at him and glowing brightly again. He smirked and summoned feathery dark wings and flew to the sky. Sakura summoned her wings as well and followed him. Eriol, Raiden, and Syaoran only watched as the battle was taken to the sky.

Tomoyo and Takashi both came skidding into the room in time to see Sakura and Hikari locked in the hold now in the sky that they had been in on the floor.

"We couldn't hold them off." Tomoyo rasped, out of breath. "There are so many, reinforcements were sent after that flash of light."

A loud clash came from down the hall, causing Tomoyo and Takashi to both raise their bloody knives in defense. Eriol stepped up next to Tomoyo and gave her a kiss on top of her head, causing the girl to stare widely at him and drop her knife.

"Why don't you two stand back, I'll take care of this one." Eriol said, winking.

Before anyone could argue, the magician stepped into the hallway and summoned a blue dust upon the oncoming minions of Hikari. The minions began to trip and fall upon the ground, not getting back up due to falling into an extremely deep sleep.

Syaoran was in a right mind to question Eriol's methods, but was distracted by the furiously changing weather. The already dark clouds were gathering. Thunder sounded and the clouds clashed furiously. It appeared that Sakura was causing the oncoming storm.

Raiden's aura was crackling with energy. A great bolt of lightning stuck the side of the tower that was Hikari's office, causing more stone to go tumbling down the mountainside. A clean view of the gates was available now, where it then could be seen that the Land's Army had finally arrived and was fighting Hikari's army on the outskirts of the gate.

The young magician walked toward the clearing of wall, and either stupidly or bravely, stepped up onto its edge. He looked over his shoulder and raised his free hand in the air.

"Kero!" Raiden shouted.

Kero swooped down and Raiden jumped on his back. Kero carried him down to the land army, where he was seen from the tower by Syaoran, sending bolts of lightning at the opposing army.

Syaoran looked at Takashi and Tomoyo, who seemed to be fairly recovered.

"You two should go and aid the others." He told them gently.

The two simply nodded and hurried as fast as they could to aid Kyo, Meiling, and Chiharu.

Rain began to fall. Syaoran watched, wishing that he could help Sakura fight this battle, but knowing that he couldn't from the floor and knowing that it was her battle to fight herself.

"Father," Syaoran whispered, the blurred image of his father coming to his mind, "I've spent my life in the pursuit of avenging you and bringing down Wu, and it's because of that that I found Sakura, and made friends for the first time in my life. I can only ask that you give me strength to finish all of this, that way I can finally begin to lead my own unique life."

Syaoran squeezed his eyes shut. He heard a great roll of thunder, or perhaps it was Sakura and Hikari clashing again, but it shook him. When he opened his eyes, he barely had time to dodge Sakura and Hikari crashing into the floor. They were back into their original positions again, on the floor with Sakura on top; this time was a bit different though.

Sakura seemed to be winning this battle. Tears were streaming down her face and she was absolutely furious.

"You…you killed my father. Both of them!" She choked on sobs, inhaling loudly. "You turned everyone against me, were the reason that my only living family member was sent away, and have had me living in fear my entire life. You've ruined my life!"

The struggle between the each side became more frantic, each knowing that one of them was going down soon. Hikari face was that of angry concentration, gritting his teeth.

"I've ruined may lives, dear child, and after I'm through with you, the pathetic life you've lead up until this point won't seem so terrible." Hikari spat.

Somehow the man managed to knock one of Sakura's hands back. The domination surprised her greatly and she gasped. Syaoran saw her falling back, and he threw his sword, which with a magical guidance, landed perfectly in her hand.

Without thinking, Sakura plunged the blade with her necklace twisted around the hilt through Hikari's heart. Both Syaoran and Sakura were frozen, not believing what had actually just happened. Syaoran turned sharply to look toward the broken doorway. Eriol was smirking and leaning against what was left of the frame, loosely but gently holding his staff in a way that was more than enough to say that the swords guidance had indeed been magical.

Sakura ripped the sword out, only to plunge it back into Hikari's chest. She twisted the blade and his face contorted into pain and surprise while hers became angry again.

"This is it Hikari." Sakura whispered. "I don't know where your life went wrong for you to become so evil, but I'm ending it now."

With a final flash of light Hikari slumped back onto the floor, finally dead. Sakura pulled out Syaoran's sword and fell back onto her legs. The blood dripped right off of the sword, the light necklace keeping the blade pure of Hikari's taint.

Sakura dropped the sword, looking absolutely exhausted. Syaoran walked up to her and knelt down beside her. She looked up to him with her wide green eyes, questioning if what had just happened had really happened. Syaoran didn't know what to say, so he wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a tight hug.

"It's over." Sakura whispered. "It's finally over."

Not knowing if it was the right time, and not caring, Syaoran bent his head down and kissed Sakura. And either from exhaustion or wanting to kiss him to, she leaned in and kissed back.

Eriol, forgotten in the background, looked out at the battlefield, where his magical guardians had gone to aid the slowly diminishing dark army. The images of the battle's end and the enemy's retreat, these were the images that Clow had seen, and now they were fulfilled.

Bloody and battered, Tomoyo, Takashi, Kyo, and Chiharu returned. Takashi had Chiharu's arm around his neck as he supported her from a deep leg wound.

"Where…where's Raiden?" Meiling asked, the frantic raising in her voice.

"Don't worry," Eriol said, "he's with Kero aiding the Land's Army. You can see him quite well from here."

Meiling ran to the edge of the tower and looked out to see her love safe, to her great relief.

Tomoyo looked around and felt strangely relieved, and strangely alone. She walked up next to Eriol and leaned against his arm. The magician (to her enjoyment) allowed his surprise to show on his face, but quickly covered it with a warm smile.

"I knew you'd warm up to me eventually." Eriol said softly, placing an arm around her shoulder and bringing her closer to him.

"Well, you know, helping us save Tomoeda from Hikari, and saving my life a few times along the way, kind of gained my trust I suppose." Tomoyo said, allowing herself to smile as well.

"Truly, I'm glad to have convinced you at all. I thought you would never forgive me for kidnapping Sakura." Eriol said, still smiling.

Tomoyo chuckled a little. "Yeah well, I guess it's kind of my fault that that happened too, since I was kind of what triggered your awakening."

Sakura and Syaoran were finally standing up, hands clasped. They approached the ledge next to Meiling, overlooking the battlefield. What was left of Hikari's army was now retreating into the mountainside. Victory shouts could be heard from the Land's Army.

"Come on, let's go join them." Sakura said, finally allowing a smile to creep onto her face.

So they all walked down to the victory field together, Sakura and Syaoran still with their hands clasped, he wearing both his sword amulet and the pink crystal necklace.

OOO

Touya hugged his sister tightly for the first time in a long time. They stood in the conquered battlefield near the broken and flooded gates with all of their friends (magical and not) watching their reunion.

Singing and laughter were heard throughout the muddy area. In the background, Hikari's fortress was bright with flames. Above in the sky, the sun was finally breaking, filling the land with light.

All of the members of Neo-Clow's Haven hugged each other. Naoko had reunited as well, the least tramatized of the group. They met with Ruby and Spinnel, the newest members of Tomoeda, who were telling the story of the battle where they had revieled themselves.

Raiden, with a loose arm around Meiling, hardly listened at all. His face was upturned to the sun in glorious happiness. After so many long years (for the land had been plagued with the enchanted overcast of Hikari) the sun finally shown again. It was wonderful.

"Touya, Yuki, I'm so glad to see you both again." Sakura said, dry tears lining her dirty face.

Touya smiled and he, Yuki, and Sakura all leaned in for another group hug. If Touya and Yuki looked dirty, bloody, and battered from battle, Sakura looked worse. Her black dress was torn all over. Her sleeves, which had been torn off by the magic while battling Hikari, were ragged around her shoulders, revealing many black bruises up and down her arms from her fight. Her face was dusty with streaks from her tears and her hair was tangled and clumpy from sweat. Somehow though, all of this only made her bright green eyes more vibrant and the most colorful thing on the battlefield.

While the siblings were hugging, Syaoran talked with Kyo.

"You know, I didn't exactly volunteer for the black army." Kyo told Syaoran. "My family was killed by monsters and I was found by some captains in my home when I was thirteen. I've been here for seven years now."

"And yet you managed to survive." Syaoran said.

Kyo smiled a little, looking oddly out of place in his uniform. "Yes, it was very hard, but since I am human, I was never hardened against the faces of others. The faces of the innocent. They are what kept my hope of escape and treason alive the entire time."

"Yes," Syaoran said, "I understand you more than you may think. You see, I was banished from my own home for treason."

"I did think your attire was foreign." Kyo said, looking over Syaoran's clothes. "But I didn't think it appropriate to ask at the time."

Syaoran only nodded and stared blankly at the ground.

"So I suppose you'll be back home soon then, to take care of whatever you needed to before you had to leave?" Kyo asked.

Syaoran nodded. "Yes, Sakura and Tomoeda got their redemption, and now my land of Yen must get its own redemption."

The two young men said no more as Sakura and all of their friends approached. She walked up to Kyo.

"Tomoyo and Chiharu were telling me about you and what you did." Sakura said, smiling sweetly at him.

Kyo, who hadn't talked to a girl in seven years, only nodded, feeling a little intimidated by the pretty girl who had defeated Hikari.

"You will find that, if you would like to come back to the town and start a new life there, you are welcome to. I was outcast from my home for eight years, but I will see that that does not happen to me, or anyone else ever again as long as I live. So I would like it if you would come back with us."

Kyo's blue eyes widened. "But…I don't know anyone."

Sakura only continued to smile. "You know me now." She held out her hand. "I'm Sakura."

Kyo hesitantly put his wounded hand into her small one. When she shook it, he smiled.

"Okay then. I'll come back with you."

"Good." Sakura replied. She released his hand and moved to Syaoran, taking his tanned hand.

"But I have a feeling that this isn't quite over yet, is it?" Sakura whispered to him.

His dark eyes met her bright ones, comprehending what she was offering him.

"No," Syaoran said, "it's not quite over yet."

They weren't done yet. They still had to save Yen.

OOO

VictorianPearl: So there it is. Hikari was finally bested.

Li: Yeah, FINALLY!

VictorianPearl: Yep, I know for sure that there will only be two more chapters until the conclusion of this story, and that's including the epilogue.

Li: It's been a long journey. You've been working on this story for two and a half years up to date.

VictorianPearl: Yeah, it's kind of sad that it has to end because I enjoyed writing this story so much. I remember writing out my plotline in such detail, coming up with only the beginning and the end to this story.

Li: So…do you have anything planned after this?

VictorianPearl: What? Like another story? I don't know, that will be revealed at the end of the epilogue.

Li: But I want to know! Fine then, just hurry up and write it!


	18. Return Home

VictorianPearl: And here is the final chapter in the Lucid Darkness story

VictorianPearl: And here is the final chapter in the Lucid Darkness story.

Li: But don't worry, there is still an epilogue after this chapter.

VictorianPearl: It's been a long two years, but I'm glad to be back and in action, finishing this piece of work so that I can focus on other stories and _OneShot?_

Li: Enjoy!

Lucid Darkness

Chapter 18

Return Home

Touya stood on the west docks of Tomoeda. There was the ship that the foreign boy Syaoran had arrived on. The foreign young man currently was on the ship, waiting to leave back to his homeland. And here Sakura was, in a dress of lovely green, giving Touya her goodbyes.

Touya was not happy.

"Touya, he helped us defeat Hikari and bring peace to the land, it's the least I can do to do the same for him." Sakura explained patiently.

Touya didn't subside though. "Yes, but you _love_ him, and that just makes things much different. I don't think you should be alone together."

Sakura smiled and shook her head. "We won't be, Eriol, Raiden, Tomoyo, and Meiling are coming with me as well."

"Yeah, and they won't be watching out for you, that's for sure." Touya said with his arms crossed, causing a nearby Tomoyo to blush.

Sakura clasped her brother's hands in her own. "Touya, I love you, and I'm sorry that I have to leave so soon after we've been reunited, but I'll be back soon. Syaoran means business."

Touya wanted to argue more, but he didn't have the heart to argue with those green eyes, too mature for the youth that she was.

He sighed and shrugged. "I guess, but why can't you at least take these magical people with you?" Touya motioned to Yukito, Kero, Ruby, and Spinnel.

"Hey, somebody's got to spread the message throughout the land that Hikari is defeated." Kero said. "We're the fastest ones up for the job."

Sakura didn't give Touya a chance to argue more, hugging Naoko, Chiharu, and Takashi, who were all staying behind. When she did give Touya his hug goodbye, it was a full two minutes before he would let her go.

"I'll send you a message when we get there, to let you know that we've arrived safely." Sakura said.

Touya nodded. Guess that was as good as it was going to get.

He watched his little sister, and remaining family member run up to the ship and set sail. The only reason he was letting her go was because if she could handle Hikari, she could handle anyone. That young man Syaoran…he wasn't so great.

OOO

Syaoran walked with his love, Sakura, and his friends, Raiden, Meiling, Tomoyo, and Eriol through the capitol city that was his home in Yen. It was a dark city with cobbled streets. It was very beautiful, or it would have been if the sun had been shining and the people acting as if it were the same as any other city.

The young man, who was not foreign in this place, walked with his green cloak hooded. His friends walked near him so that he could not be seen so easily, for if he were to be seen, it would mean a certain death.

Syaoran walked with his friends from one end of the capital straight through to the other side where his old home rested. It was a grand home, Syaoran thought proudly, looking at the deep red of his house with the ornate gates and windows. He knew it was not in its top condition though, for nobody had lived in it for the two months that he had been gone.

The grass seemed to have taken over, having grown tall and thick. It even crept over the barrier that there had once been, growing outside of the fence.

Syaoran walked through the gate and across the grass while his friends waited for him outside of the gate. He used his old key to unlock the house and walk inside. It was very much the same as he had left it, except dustier and dark. There was the tearoom and the dinning room, all of the once brightly colored bowls in their cases were now dimmed by the lack of light and dust.

Syaoran proceeded up the stairs, not to his room, but to his mother's. He walked into the ornately decorated room, walking into that scent which was his mother's, still there after what seemed like such a long, long time.

On the mahogany chest under the window, there was an envelope. Syaoran opened the envelope, which to his surprise, was addressed to him.

_Dearest Xiao Lang,_

_If you are reading this, then you have somehow managed to come back to Yen undetected. This is my last night here before I am to wed Wu. You were sent away two days ago. If you are here, you know then that I no longer live here; I shall reside in the castle with my new destiny. _

_Xiao Lang, if you are reading this then you must be back to put everything right. I cannot stop you from doing that, and at this hour, I can only imagine that I will desperately need you to stop Wu if you read this in the future. I split my fortune between your sisters and told them to keep it in a safe place so that Wu may not get his hands on it. I will have to persuade him to leave this dear house alone, I am sure it will be costly._

_There is something that I must ask. If you do come back and read this and you are planning to stop Wu and save me like the hero you are, then use the key in this envelope to open the chest. Inside you will find your father's old uniform. Please wear it, I'm sure he would want you to. If you have any questions, because it could be any span of time before you end up reading this, go to your sisters. As of now they reside where they have always resided, and I will do all in my power to make sure it stays that way. I don't want to ask you to do anything for me Xiao Lang, except take your father's uniform. What you will do next is your own decision. I can only hope that you will read this in time, either before one of Wu's men finds it, or before Wu has killed us all._

_I love you Xiao Lang._

_Yelan_

Syaoran read his mother's letter over twice, clutching the edges of the paper tightly. He easily saw the key in the envelope and fit it into the chest, finding his father's uniform inside.

Near the gate, his friends were still waiting.

"Should we go in and find him?" Meiling asked. "It's been such a long time."

"No," Sakura said, "here he comes now."

Indeed, Syaoran did exit the house then, but dressed differently. He was no longer in his cloak and normal, brown, clothes, he was wearing what appeared to be a military uniform. The uniform was navy blue, with intricate silver thread weaved throughout the fabric. There was a hat upon his head of the same color, with a thicker silver weave. He wore flat shoes. The tunic of the uniform came down to Syaoran's mid thighs in the front, but fell to his mid calves in the back, split like wings. It appeared that the uniform had once belonged to someone of high rank.

Sakura walked up to Syaoran, stopping him in front of her. She looked him over and placed her hands on his chest.

"Is this uniform yours?"

Syaoran put his hands on either side of Sakura's shoulders. "It was my father's. I will wear it when I fight Wu, and perhaps it will give me some inspiration."

Sakura smiled. "Yes, you look very…important in it."

Syaoran took Sakura's hand and rejoined his waiting friends.

"Is there a war to fight here as well?" Raiden asked.

"Yes," Syaoran replied, "and I needed new clothes. Now we must go visit one of my sisters and ask her what has happened since I've been gone. She lives not far from here."

"Syaoran, you're not planning to take care of this in one day, are you? Because it's mid afternoon now and we've only then got about five hours before it grows dark." Eriol said.

"Well…I suppose you could say that that's my goal." Syaoran replied.

The young man said no more, he simply began to walk toward his sister's house. Meiling rolled her eyes at Syaoran.

"Sure, save the land in one day, no, less than a day. _That's_ realistic."

The group of six arrived at Syaoran's sister's house. It was grand, not as grand as Syaoran's house had been, but it was still one of the nicer homes in the capitol. Sakura couldn't explain it, but she was attracted to this foreign world, everything here was very different, but very beautiful. Maybe she liked the foreign world too much though. All she knew was that it was suddenly very difficult to keep herself from throwing herself into Syaoran's arms after seeing him in that uniform…

When Sakura came to, she clasped Syaoran's hand tighter. The panels of the wall were sliding to reveal a very beautiful woman. She was dressed in red and gold. Her eyes widened at the sight of Syaoran.

"_Xiao Lang_?" She gasped.

The woman looked at Syaoran's companions before stepping aside.

"Come inside quickly, we can't have anyone catching you looking like that!"

As Sakura moved with Syaoran into the home, she was stunned. Unlike the dreary world outside, the inside of this home was bright and colorful. Sakura blinked several times, completely enchanted with the beauty of the house. She felt Syaoran's sister (or at least that's who she supposed her for) taking her hand and guiding her and Syaoran to sit on the sofa.

As chairs were being pulled up for the rest of the unexpected guests, Sakura couldn't keep from staring. She leaned into Syaoran for support. She had no idea he was from a family like _this_. She knew that he was intelligent and educated, but he was a little higher up the bar than she had thought. If this was how his sister's house looked, she wondered how the inside of _his_ house had looked like.

"Syaoran," Sakura whispered in his ear, scooting closer to him, "it is so beautiful here."

Syaoran smiled at his love's wide, green eyes. Yes, it was quite beautiful here, he had never had the time to appreciate it though…maybe she could stay and help him.

"Xiao Lang, your existence here will not go unnoticed by Wu for long, he sent enchantments to search for signs of your death. Mother told me." Syaoran's sister said.

"I know, which is why we're going to go in there and stop Wu tonight." Syaoran said.

The sister wasn't the only one surprised. "You are? Tonight?"

"Apparently we are." Tomoyo whispered.

"Sister, how is mother?" Syaoran asked.

His sister looked down and clutched at her silky dress. "She is worse than she lets on, I suppose. She claims to be making it through the days, but it can only be barely." She looked up at Syaoran. "She is surviving, but I fear that she cannot go on much longer. I think it kills her to know that you could be dead somewhere, and she has no way of knowing."

Syaoran frowned at this, but said nothing.

Eriol leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Excuse me, but we haven't been told your name yet."

Syaoran's sister looked at him widely, surprised that this stranger was talking to her.

"It's Fanren."

"Fanren," Eriol said, moving his hand to his chin. "Could you tell us of Wu's fortress?"

"Yes," Fanren said, her eyes hinted with confusion, "Wu lives in the palace north of here. The palace is heavily enchanted inside and out. He has guards from the army stationed outside the doors and at his side. The palace was once very beautiful…" She trailed off, her eyes staring off into space.

Syaoran placed his hand on his sisters, causing her to look up quickly and snap out of her daze.

"Why do you ask?" Fanren questioned.

"I may have an idea." Eriol said, his eyes flashing deviously behind his glasses. "Let me ask you, are the guards enchanted as well?"

Fanren shook her head. "No, they are victims as the rest of us, but there are many corrupt soldiers in the palace. There are terrible people in that palace."

Eriol sat in silence for a moment. "I think I may have an idea."

OOO

Syaoran wasn't sure how it had happened, or better yet, how Eriol had somehow managed to make it happen. Somehow though, he had ended up in the shadows of evening, outside the palace, with all four of his sisters.

Syaoran glared at Eriol. Only _he _could think of something to this caliber. He knew that somewhere, in the dark across from them, the rest of his comrades were hiding in wait (although none too happily for Tomoyo).

There was a long stretch of walkway leading up to a set of doors. This was one of the entrances into the palace. Long pillars lined the walkway, supporting an overhang of woven wood intertwined with years worth of growing vines. The two groups split the walkway that the guards were patrolling.

Two guards walked along the edges of the walkway, slowly making their way toward Syaoran's hiding spot. The guards were dressed in black, with black hats on their heads and swords on their hips. They wore the same flat shoes that Syaoran was wearing, giving no sound to their step.

Meiling and Sakura purposely stepped out of the shadows. They had been dressed in form fitting dresses of beautiful silk. Meiling was clad in blue with her hair done up in odangos while Sakura was clad in a similar dress of green with half her hair pulled back. Their dresses were loosely pinned down the middle of their chest, leaving some visible cleavage and their skirts (which were already short) had slits going up them. They wore the same type of flat shoes and hid their faces behind fans.

The two guards stopped in their tracks, smiling widely at the pair of young women.

"Looks who's decided to keep us company tonight." One guard said to the other, grinning with evil intent.

The two girls simply fanned themselves, pretending to seem embarrassed and flirty.

"Come closer, let's get to know each other." The second guard said, wringing his fingers in anticipation.

Meiling walked a few provocative steps closer to the guards. "Let's get to know each other right now." She said in a shy demeanor, still hiding behind her fan.

The second guard's grin widened, loosening his belt and letting it fall to the floor.

"You too." Sakura said, slowly looking up and down the first guard.

Meiling and Sakura closed their fans, slowly closing the gap between themselves and the guards. The guards hastily were taking off their jackets and hats, letting them fall right to the floor.

Sakura grabbed one of the guards by his undershirt, slowly pulling him off of the walkway and closer to the shadows. Meiling followed suit.

The guard in front of Meiling brought up a hand, but she playfully swatted it away with her folded fan.

"Wait just one second now." She smiled seductively, reaching for the top fastening on her dress.

By this point the two guards were completely ensued by the anticipation. Their eyes were focused on the fastenings that were slowly becoming undone.

_Thwack_

Meiling high kicked a guard in the side of the head, sending him crashing back into the walkway.

_Thwack_

Sakura kicker the second guard in the gut, landing him flat on his back.

The two girls stepped forward and opened their fans back up.

"Why don't you two get up, we still barely know each other." Sakura taunted.

The guards pulled themselves up, glaring at the two women.

"So you like it rough, eh?" One of the guard's commented, bringing back his evil smile.

"See, we're getting to know each other better already." Meiling said.

In the blink of an eye, she front flipped forward and punched the guard in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Sakura dodged the guard who leapt at her, spun around and kicked him in the back, sending him sprawling on his stomach.

Meiling and Sakura became back to back, facing their opponents in fighting stance.

"You bitch," The guard in front of Meiling spit.

Meiling smiled. "What's wrong, you can't handle me?

The guard lunged forward and Meiling and Sakura dodged out of the way. He swung at Meiling who dodged his fists. He managed to grab onto her shoulder but she slapped him upside the face with her fan and jumped back.

Meanwhile, the guard in front of Sakura was up again and ready for more action. He made a punch at Sakura who dropped to the splits and swiped her legs under the guard, sending him back to the floor.

"You don't like to stand up while fighting, do you?" Sakura taunted.

Meiling back-flipped, her second foot catching the guard under the chin. She back-flipped down the walkway toward her hiding comrades.

Sakura ran back as well, stopping to position herself in fighting stance once again, next to Meiling.

"I'm sick of this." The guard on the floor said, pulling himself up again. "If they like it rough, we'll give it to them rough."

He went to go and grab his sword from his pile of clothes, but could not find it.

"What the hell…" The guard gaped.

"Looking for these?"

The two guards looked toward the girls who were now wielding swords instead of fans, ready to attack.

The guards were out of weapons and out of options. They grabbed their coats from the ground and started to back up.

"This isn't over, we're not through with you yet."

"Oh yes you are." Sakura said.

The two young women ran forward and jump kicked the two guards in the side of their heads, knocking them both unconscious.

Meiling threw the sword down and pulled her fan out from her dress. "And that's what you get for expecting too much."

OOO

The two unconscious guards had been tied together with their own belts and dragged off into the shadows of the hallway they had been previously guarding. There was no need for them anymore though, for the palace had already been infiltrated.

The palace was surprisingly bright and beautiful despite the dull appearance it presented from the outside. Syaoran was surprised, this wasn't what he recalled from his memory. Much had changed in the eight years since he had been here.

Syaoran's sister Fanren stopped them in the hallway.

"We know what to do from here." Fanren said, motioning to all of her sisters. "It is not uncommon for us to visit mother, we shall proceed first to lure out Wu and mother."

"Wait a moment." Eriol said, approaching the four sisters.

He chanted slowly, placing a hand on each sister for a moment. A blue glow of light entered each sister in turn.

"I've placed a little spell on each of you. Don't worry, this is to ensure that you stay safe." Eriol smiled, bowing to the sisters.

The sisters bowed back. They took one last look at Syaoran before hurrying down the hallway.

Syaoran threw a glare at Eriol.

"Is there something wrong?" The magician asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ya, this whole twisted plan involving my sisters, that's what's wrong." Syaoran said.

Raiden came up behind Syaoran and Eriol, placing a hand on either of his friends' shoulders.

"Now I know this may be difficult for the both of you, but _no more talking_."

OOO

Fanren gathered her sisters as they approached the main chambers consisting of the throne room, where Wu and their mother were currently residing.

"Ah, welcome Li sisters." Wu greeted from his throne, his red eyes flashing. "I see you've come without your husband, Fuutie."

Syaoran's sister Fuutie kept her face as void of emotion was possible. "Yes, he was too busy to pull away from his work."

Yelan Li sat to the right of Wu on her throne. She looked the same as ever from outward appearance alone, but the sisters saw that her eyes did not light up as they normally did when they came to see her. She was loosing hope. Her light was dieing quickly.

"Mother, we've brought you a present." Feimei said, stepping forward with her sisters, "Would you like us to give it to you?"

Yelan looked at her four beautiful daughters with dull eyes. She wanted to be happy to see the only bleak light left in her life, but she couldn't seem to raise the emotion. She had trained herself to well to become devoid to Wu's tendencies.

The guards beside the throne, and even Wu himself, they looked upon her daughters with pleasure. Even though they were each married, it didn't seem to matter. As much as Yelan loved to see her daughters, it pained her to think that they might end up stuck inside the palace as well if they visited too often. She could not allow the though to get into Wu's head, they had to stay protected.

"Yes, my daughters. Please present your gift."

Fanren came away from her sisters to hand her mother the gift. She ascended the few steps up to her mother's throne and came very close. Fanren pulled an envelope from the folds of her sleeves and pushed it into her mother's hands.

"It is very important that you read this right away." Fanren whispered, loud enough for Wu to catch as well.

The young woman quickly retreated down the steps to rejoin her sisters. They huddled together as if for safety.

"We shall visit again soon mother." Shiefa said.

The sisters turned to leave. What a short visit, Yelan thought. She seemed to care, and yet not to care at the same time. She was going to open her letter, but Wu grabbed it, whispering how he wondered what the contents contained. As he was occupied, Yelan simply watched her daughters' retreat, wondering if she would ever get to be alone with them again.

Feimei turned around before exiting the hall. Yelan was about to raise her hand to wave goodbye, but Feimei did not turn to give attention to her mother. Her daughter instead flirtatiously winked at one of the guards before flittering off to catch up with her sisters.

Yelan blinked, several times.

The guard looked baffled and unsure, but sure enough, he whispered to his fellow guard before slinking off after Feimei and her sisters.

What was that? What had happened? Something stirred within Yelan that had not stirred within her in a long time. Something was going to happen, she could feel it.

Wu began to chuckle, and Yelan stiffened, hoping he hadn't seen the act between her daughter and the guard. She was soon calmed, if only for a moment.

"This letter," Wu began, raising relief in Yelan, "it is very interesting."

"How so?" Yelan asked, attempting to sound mildly intrigued.

"It contains information about your son." Wu replied.

Yelan braced herself. She was waiting to be told that Syaoran was dead. He was supposed to return a month ago, and it was only a matter of time until Wu told her (whether or not it was the truth or a lie).

She seemed to have quickly forgotten that her daughters had brought the letter.

"It seems that your little Xiao Lang is alive." Wu chuckled.

"Alive?" Yelan couldn't help but utter.

"Yes, and hiding at your old home."

OOO

The exquisitely sleek doors to Yelan Li's home were unceremoniously kicked open by one of Wu's guards. A party of fifteen guards stormed wildly into the dark house. As they noisily clambered up the stairs, they didn't notice the previously busted front doors slamming shut behind them and locking again.

As the guards reached the top floor they immediately began to search every room. The same guard who had kicked in the front door opened the door to Yelan Li's room. Waiting for the guard in the room was not Syaoran, but a little blue faerie with a little sparkling wand.

She giggled in a high-pitched bell voice and zoomed out of the room, leaving a trail of blue dust after her. The guard opened his mouth to mutter something obscene, but instead inhaled the blue dust and crashed to the ground in sleep.

The house thundered again with the crashes of men falling into a very deep sleep. The little faerie darted out of the house through a large crack in the busted door toward the castle, trailing her dust the entire way.

OOO

Raiden shook his head. Syaoran really was hopeless.

Syaoran was currently explaining to everyone about how they were going to break through the doors to the throne room to take care of Wu.

"So after we get inside, Sakura, Meiling and Tomoyo take care of the guards on the right. Eriol and Raiden, you take care of the guards on the left. Meanwhile, sisters, you will get mother away from Wu, and then I will run in and fight Wu to the death." Syaoran finished.

Raiden nodded. "Completely full-proof, that's what this plan is."

Syaoran glared, "At least it's more full-proof than the last plan we had while saving _your_ land."

"Hey, you were the one who let that guy turn you all in." Raiden countered.

"Okay children." Fanren said, stepping between Syaoran and Raiden. "Now listen closely!" She hissed. "Our mother is stuck in there and on the edge of suicide, so we're going to bust those damn doors down and save here. _Understand_?"

Syaoran glared at Raiden, and for some odd reason, at Eriol too, as if he had played some part to play in the argument.

"Everyone, you might want to back up a little bit." Eriol said, giving a signature wink to Tomoyo.

Eriol and Sakura walked up to the doors. They placed their hands out in front of them, a fireball gathering in their palms. It spun and spun, growing hotter and hotter until it was released at the huge doors to the throne room, blasting them into splinters.

From inside the throne room through Yelan's view, her heart almost exploded from the fear and surprise that filled her. From the splinters and dust that came from the doors, many people burst forth.

Sakura held her breath as she ran through the sharp dust, between Meiling and Tomoyo. There were only three guards, since Feimei had lured one out earlier. Each of the girls took on a guard.

On the other side of the throne, Eriol used some sort of magic that allowed him to jump over the guards and land behind them, placing them between him and Raiden. Two turned toward Eriol and two turned toward Raiden, unafraid of the two magicians. The throne guards were not ordinary guards, they held dark magic tricks within them.

Meiling found out first as she went to kick a guard, but was given electric recoil. The shocked girl stumbled backward into Syaoran, who somehow managed to catch her and push her back to her opponent while still running straight for the throne.

Syaoran sped forward to find an empty throne where Wu and his mother had been only moments before. His sisters ran up behind him.

Syaoran turned to them.

"He's taken her away. They can't have gone far though.

Syaoran's sisters nodded back.

"We will wait here to guide the others." Fanren said. "Go to Wu's chambers at the top of the fourth stairwell, he will likely have gone there."

Syaoran nodded and gave one more look to the battle in front of the throne. He gave his sisters a determined look before speeding in the direction of the stairwell.

Back in front of the throne a small fight was being waged. Raiden was fighting two of the guards at once with his enchanted sword. The two guards had summoned enchanted weapons that glowed with green light. Every strike and parry caused green sparks to fly in Raiden's face.

Eriol was dodging more than fighting. He was intrigued with the enchanted weapons the guards wielded. He dodged and shielded, unintentionally annoying them…or perhaps it was intentional.

The frustrated guards began to cast magic at Eriol, sending fireballs and frost spells his way. The magician simply continued to dodge as the fire and ice collided to the ground in steam. Eriol gave each guard a strong punch to the chest. The guards were knocked to the ground and their weapons lost their enchantment, turning back to regular silver blades.

Where Meiling was, she was having a difficult time. She only had a fan and a small knife to fight with. She was also at a disadvantage to the guard's magic, having to dodge attacks more than she would have liked. She tried using quick attacks to throw off the guard and get a few hits in, but it wasn't enough. The dark magic in him was too strong.

If Meiling was having a hard time, Tomoyo was just barely managing to stay alive. She had twin daggers that didn't do much against the powerful magic and sword of the guard that she was opposing. She knew that he was amused with her, and it was probably the only reason that she was still alive.

Sakura knocked her guard out fast. She fought magic with magic. She summoned her own enchanted sword and fought fiercely. She deflected the guards constant frost spells with her own purple shield. The two swords were a blur. Sakura pressed forward against the guard, trying to back him near the wall.

The guard pressed hard though, he was ranked with the position of protecting Wu, after all. When his sword collided with Sakura's, black ooze splattered out all over the floor, causing Sakura's feet to stick.

Sakura thought fast and used her sword to send rushing water into the throne room, leaving everyone's feet soaked in four-inch deep water. She pressed forward and gave the guard a high kick to the head, leaving him unconscious.

Tomoyo was barely surviving. She attempted to slice at the guard's arm, but he was too fast and knocked her hand right out of the way, sending one of her twin blades flying. Tomoyo backed up slowly, but she read the guard's face clearly. He smiled and his dark eyes glittered. She knew playtime was over.

The guard used the butt of his sword and gave a swift hit to Tomoyo's sternum. The girl somehow managed to bring her hands up in defense, but that didn't stop her from being knocked to the ground. She scooted back as quickly as she could, trying to keep her one dagger in front of her.

The guard kicked Tomoyo in the wrist.

_Crack_

Tomoyo screamed as the bones in her wrist were broken. The blade went flying, landing near its twin far away. She glared at the guard through tears. He had the same smile and glitter in his eyes. He proceeded toward Tomoyo, who still scooted backward, ready to use the last of her energy if she had to.

As the guard stepped forward and lifted his sword, before Tomoyo had any time to react, he was hit with a powerful blue spell in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground in sleep.

Tomoyo looked behind her to see Eriol with his hand outstretched to where the guard had been. He smiled at Tomoyo walking to her and kneeling down next to her.

"Why don't you show me that wrist?" He said, smiling kindly.

Before Tomoyo could even react, Eriol gently took a hold of her hand within the both of his. She watched him with wide eyes as he gently turned her wrist about, careful not to cause her pain.

Tomoyo's heart began speeding up. She was very afraid and her adrenaline was pumping, but that wasn't the cause of her pounding heart. Eriol didn't say anything but gave Tomoyo the most true and heartwarming smile she didn't know he was capable of before gently kissing her wrist.

Tomoyo's wrist glowed green for a moment before settling down, bones repaired. The young woman looked to Eriol's face with large sparkling eyes. For a moment his dark blue eyes connected with her jeweled ones and both of their hearts connected and their faces heated.

A guard was thrown over the couple in their moment. Meiling dusted her hands off, smiling at her job well done.

"That will teach you to mess with me!" Meiling cheered.

Eriol helped Tomoyo up and they realized that during their moment, all of the remaining guards had been contained. Eriol gave a little whistle and a pretty, little, blue faerie came zooming into the room. She flew up to Eriol, only an inch away from his nose.

"These gentlemen are exhausted, why don't you make sure that they sleep a while?" Eriol said, sporting his usual smirk.

The little faerie giggled and nodded. She flew over each of the guards, sprinkling her blue sleeping dust.

"That's my girl." Eriol commented, giving Tomoyo's hand a light squeeze, unnoticed by everyone else.

Syaoran's sisters ran up to the group from Neo-Clow's Haven.

"Please, you must follow Syaoran at once. He's already gone ahead to fight Wu and save our mother." Fuutie explained.

"Right!" Sakura said, running ahead as soon as the words were out of Fuutie's mouth.

"Eriol," Feimei said, "thank you for the safety spell. Go through the corridor behind the throne and up the stairs to the fourth floor. You will find Syaoran and Wu there, hopefully."

Eriol smiled, giving the perceptive Tomoyo a vague image of Clow in her mind. "You are welcome, and thank you for your help here."

Raiden and Meiling led the way to catch up to Sakura.

OOO

Syaoran burst through the doors to Wu's enormous chambers. His room was brilliant. There were large windows lining one of the walls, allowing an amazing view of the grey countryside. There were curtains of red, draping across the edges of the windows like blood. A large bed was at the far back of the room, between two large doorways.

As Syaoran burst into the room, Wu emerged from one of the doorways with an enchanted sword in one hand and Yelan Li's arm in his other.

"_Xiaolang_!" Yelan cried.

"Let go of her!" Syaoran commanded.

His voice was so commanding that Wu almost _did_ let go of Yelan Li's arm unconsciously. He quickly firmed his grip again when he realized what he was doing though. Wu smiled at the young man.

"I see you've come to save your mother. Well, you will have to be very careful Xiaolang, if you're not, someone could end up getting hurt." Wu said, pulling the enchanted blade nearer to Yelan's neck.

Syaoran glared at Wu, raising his sword in attack position.

"This is between you and me." Syaoran said angrily. "If you do anything to hurt my mother I will kill you slowly and painfully and make you pay all the more dearly for the crimes you have committed."

Wu shoved Yelan back toward the doorway that he had emerged from.

"Well then, let's waste no time."

The blade in Wu's hand glowed violent shades of red and black. It seemed to Syaoran that anyone who touched the blade would be corrupted, if not already.

Syaoran stepped further into the room. He watched Wu carefully. The corrupt ruler was dressed in thick robes of red and black. His face was ugly and inhuman. The hands wrapped around the sword were thin and wrinkled. The very image of Wu made Syaoran angry.

"First, let my mother go, she is to be left alone." Syaoran commanded in a low voice.

Wu smirked. "You don't get to make the decisions in _my_ palace."

The evil ruler turned toward Yelan and smiled wickedly. Syaoran opened his mouth to yell at his mother to run for it, but she did something very odd.

Yelan Li looked up at Wu from the ground where he had thrown her and smiled very brightly. Even Wu was stunned and lowered his sword.

Both Syaoran and Wu watched as Yelan turned into a beautiful blue girl holding a mirror. She smiled and then disappeared.

"Mother…" Syaoran trailed.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you." A voice came from the main doorway.

It was Sakura, wielding her enchanted sword and glaring at Wu.

"Sakura!" Syaoran cried, surprised and grateful to see her.

Sakura gave Syaoran a smile. She ran up next to her love and they both pointed their swords at Wu. Syaoran was grinning at his enemy's angry face.

"My mother was never here, Wu." Syaoran said. "We made sure she was safe and sound as soon as we broke into your palace."

Wu smirked. "Your mother might be safe, but you and your little whore are not."

Syaoran jumped forward so fast that Wu barely had time to block Syaoran's blade.

"That _whore_ that you refer to is a hero, and she's come here to help me kill you." Syaoran growled, thrusting his blade at Wu.

Syaoran's attacks were fierce but controlled. The determined young man had been training the past ten years for this moment. He swung his sword at Wu's midsection, but the evil ruler threw himself onto the bed to avoid the blade. He rolled to the other side of the bed and backed up to his magnificent windows.

The grin smeared across Wu's face gave Syaoran a bad feeling. It was as if he was hiding something up his sleeve. The young man pace carefully, making sure to stay directly in front of his opponent.

"Two against one, the odds are unfair." Wu said.

The two warriors tensed a little. Both of them could feel an evil growing. It was coming soon.

From outside the window, a pair of red eyes appeared. Black shadows swirled and formed around the eyes to create a vicious looking monster. It looked to be a large dragon, but instead of scales it had sharp feathers. It had large wings that blocked out the entire view from the window and large clawed feet.

The creature swiped at the windows, shattering the glass.

Sakura summoned her shield, causing the glass to bounce of it, leaving her and Syaoran unharmed. Sakura wasn't about to let Wu distract Syaoran though.

"I'll take care of the monster, you fight for your father!" Sakura said.

Syaoran didn't like her idea, but he didn't have a chance to say anything before she summoned wings on her back and flew out the window.

Wu took the opportunity of Syaoran's eyes following Sakura and jumped over the bed. He brought his sword down upon the unsuspecting Syaoran, who startled and put up a sloppy block.

The enchanted blades were grinding together. Syaoran backed up a few steps, attempting the best he could to push his enemy's blade back.

"You're a cheat." Syaoran growled at Wu.

"I'm one who takes an opportunity when he sees it." The man countered back, smirking.

Raiden, Meiling, Tomoyo, and Eriol rushed in to find Syaoran and Wu locked in the intense battle. Eriol's eyes caught Sakura fighting the flying beast outside the window.

"Watch yourselves." Eriol told his friends before summoning a pair of wings to help his former self's apprentice.

"How can we help him?" Raiden asked, watching Syaoran struggle to regain the upper hand.

"We can't," Tomoyo said, "we can only step in if things get out of hand for him. Now, we can only watch."

The presence of his friends in the doorway gave Syaoran strength. He wanted them to see him defeat his enemy. He wanted them to be there when Yen received its glory as he had been there in Tomoeda for them.

Syaoran gained a burst of strength and pushed Wu back. He kicked the man in the shins, sending him crumpling off the bed. Syaoran jumped off the bed and landed in front of Wu, pointing his sword at him.

"Your time is over Wu. No more cheap tricks, no more innocent blood, and no more darkness." Syaoran said, gripping his sword more tightly.

"Even if you do kill me, you won't get past my army." Wu sneered.

Syaoran smiled. "Actually, we will. You see while we were infiltrating your castle, your army was…taking a nap."

The young man stepped forward, raising his sword over Wu.

"Your reign has ended."

_Thud_

Syaoran's sword went through Wu's heart, killing him instantly.

The beast that Sakura and Eriol were flying around dissipated into smoke. The heavens above rumbled, and then it rained.

Syaoran pulled his sword out of the dead ruler and stumbled back.

"It's over…it's finally over."

Tomoyo, Meiling and Raiden cheered.

"You did it, Syaoran, you did it." Meiling cried.

Sakura flew back into the palace and landed in front of Syaoran.

"Well, I suppose your plan was a success after all." She said, smiling brightly.

OOO

VictorianPearl: Wow, it's finally over. I've had this story with me for such a long time and now it's finally done.

Li: You are mean!

VictorianPearl: Why? I couldn't let it go on forever. This story was already long overdue.

Li: Not that! I mean, you leave us hanging at the last chapter, and you're not going to have the epilogue up for another month!

VictorianPearl: It's true, it's true. I'm going to be going on a study abroad trip for the first month of summer, and I don't know if I'm going to have computer access or anything over there.

Li: See!

VictorianPearl: I will try and write as much of the epilogue in my journal as I can while I'm away. Now that I have only one more thing to write, I'm just going to write it and not make any of you readers wait any longer.

Li: Well…okay then. I guess this chapter _was_ extra long.

VictorianPearl: Yes, and I would like to apologize for any grammar errors. I really wanted to post this before I left, so I haven't had time to proof read the last half of this chapter as much as I would have liked. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and I can't wait to complete this story.

Li: Will there be any plugs?

VictorianPearl: Hmmm. I don't know, you'll just have to wait and see.

Li: No fun!


	19. Epilogue

VictorianPearl: Notes and comments will appear at the end of the chapter

VictorianPearl: Notes and comments will appear at the end of the chapter.

Lucid Darkness

Epilogue

Syaoran was waiting. He stood at the end of a long aisle, gazing anxiously at the people sitting in front of him. He glanced down at his father's uniform, which he was now wearing for such an event. He glanced up at his mother's proud face, almost all traces of her torment with Wu were erased. Syaoran smiled back.

Beside his mother Fanren, Fuutie, Feimei, and Shiefa were seated, crying their eyes out. Syaoran saw some of his other relatives seated throughout everyone else in the palace courtyard, but his focus now went to the faces from Tomoeda.

Tomoyo, Eriol, Chiharu, Takashi, Meiling, Raiden, Naoko and Kyo were all seated next to each other. Syaoran always lost sight of them amongst the guests, for they were dressed in garbs of his own home, Yen, rather than their former dark garbs from Tomoeda.

Kero, Yue, Spinnel, and Rubie were all present as well, beside Yukito and Touya, who was somewhere between angry and happy. Syaoran paused on his face. The angrier Touya was the more real that this day and moment were. Syaoran's smile widened.

The young man was growing more anxious. His dark eyes focused again to the end of the aisle. All of a sudden, Sakura just appeared at the end of the aisle, standing still for a moment. She met Syaoran's eyes and they both blushed and smiled.

Syaoran looked Sakura over, from head to toe, as she began her slow progression to him. She wore a silk dress of red and gold, something Tomoyo and his sisters had made for her. She had a small gold headdress propped up on her head, sparkling in the morning light.

Quickly or slowly, Syaoran wasn't sure which one, Sakura took her last step forward and faced Syaoran. He clasped her hands in his, eyes now only for her.

In his head though, Syaoran replayed what he had gone through that had lead him up to this very moment. He was banished for accusing Wu of the murder of his father. He was sent to Tomoeda where he met Sakura, helping her on her journey to defeat Hikari.

After the downfall of Hikari they had come back to Yen together and somehow managed to take down Wu within one whole day. Once the tyrant fell, the dark spell was lifted off of the land. Rain fell and sunshine shone once again. Those of the guards who had been under the dark curse helped to gather those who hadn't been. There was confusion, but now the denizens of Yen were working together for restoration.

Through the ordeal of having to save two lands from darkness, there were no more excuses to keep Syaoran separated from Sakura. There were no more obstacles in the way. On this day they would come together.

As Syaoran thought on all of the darkness he went through his entire life, he could not look at the past with regrets or sorrow knowing that it was because of his past that he met Sakura. He squeezed her hands lightly. The priest was talking next to them, but he wasn't really listening. All he heard were a couple of words signaling that he could now kiss Sakura, which is exactly what he did.

Cheers, clapping, and sobs erupted from those sitting in the courtyard. Syaoran pulled back from Sakura's soft lips. They smiled broadly at each other, excited for the brand new life that was waiting in front of them. Hands clasped, they all but ran down the aisle to where the real celebration would take place. They ran to a place with no torment, suffering, or darkness.

Syaoran lifted his face briefly to the warm morning sun.

_Thank you, father._

OOO

VictorianPearl: Wow guys, I can't believe it but this fiction just officially ended.

(Cheers from all of CCS members)

VictorianPearl: So now it's time for question and answer from CCS members, all questions are scripted of course.

Sakura: Okay, what gave you the idea for this story?

VictorianPearl: I went through a brief fanart phase, where I looked through many different sights at all of the artwork fans had done. On some random sight there was a picture of Sakura dressed in black labeled, _Zombie Sakura_.

This picture was all I used for my imagination. Although I did not want Sakura to be a Zombie and I did not want the story to be from her point of view. I wanted to do the story through Syaoran's point of view for my own personal interest (mostly) and I thought it worked better for the story. I also wrote all about Yen's clothing, color, and overall style with China in my mind.

Syaoran: Alright it's my turn already!

Li: I don't know why you had to pick that rude, thick version of me to be the main character. I'm much cooler…right? (Walks off sulking)

Syaoran: Why did it take you so long to write this story?

Meiling: That's not in the script!

Syaoran: (coughs) Oh…my mistake. I mean, _how_ long did it take you to write the story.

VictorianPearl: Let's see. I was working on the story for a little less than a year before I started posting. I came up with the idea for it when I was still posting _Living Metonymy_. I came up with all of the ideas for the first few chapters and the last chapter. It was a lot of the middle work that I had the most trouble writing and posting.

Raiden: So about my appearance…

Syaoran: Ya, why was it needed?

Sakura: (Bats Syaoran on the head) That was rude, Syaoran!

Syaoran: (Puppy dog look) Sorry Sakura.

VictorianPearl: Yes, yes, your appearance, Raiden. I was originally just going to make you a new, super cool character who had awesome magic. My first plan was to stick you in this fiction where you would make your grand appearance. As many of you know though, I was in the middle of writing _Living Metonymy_ and I liked you too much to wait to use you, so I gave you your premier a little earlier than expected.

Meiling: And I got a new boyfriend! (Hugs Raiden)

Syaoran: (Gags) Enough is enough.

Eriol: Hush up, none of us complain when you and Sakura-

Tomoyo: No need to continue, I have it all on tape in case anybody wants to see. (Waves video tape around wildly)

Syaoran: …

VictorianPearl: So the next question…

Kero: So why was I given such small parts?

VictorianPearl: Sorry, but all magical beings made from Clow were given minor parts. Ruby and Spinnel had to make a surprise appearance and save everyone's butts, so they were hidden most of the fiction. The rest of the time you were posing for a distraction to the enemy.

Tomoyo: Ohhh, I have a good question! What's up with the title? A little contradicting, don't you think?

Eriol: (Surprised) Dear, did you just manage to go off script...?

VictorianPearl: Hmm, well I suppose it might seem like the title was about Hikari. Once a child of light, but turned to the darkness. That would be incorrect though. The title is really referring to Sakura as Syaoran would see her.

Li: Go on.

VictorianPearl: Sakura was all about bringing the land back and saving everyone, but she was veiled by Clow's darkness. A good darkness, if you will. So although she had this darkness about her, it wasn't bad, it was good. Remember back to the first couple of chapters when Syaoran is somewhat confused by Sakura's appearance and her actions toward the people in her land. That's where I got my idea.

Touya: Whatever, that's way too confusing. I thought this story could have been better!

Meiling: You're just saying that because you weren't there to ruin all of Sakura and Syaoran's romantic moments together.

Touya: So what?! XX

VictorianPearl: He does have a point though. This story wasn't as good as it could have been. I will be fixing that soon though. I recently read through all of the chapters and I was horrified at all of the typos there were. I had written and edited my work carefully in notebooks during my spare time (in class) but I didn't put as much effort into checking my work once it was on the computer.

This is partially not my fault. As I may have mentioned before, I wrote almost all of this fiction while in high school when I was limited to only one hour on the computer per day. So I basically had to squeeze all of my typing time (as well as online time) into one hour and get the chapter posted. My internet was (and is) dial up and would take FOREVER to get to the loading screen.

Kero: Excuses!

Li: Hey, Vic was really busy back in her high school days. It just wasn't ideal to waste time checking for typos back then.

VictorianPearl: True, but I will be going back through the entire story and editing all of the typos. I had to do that to Living Metonymy as well, and I only got halfway done editing that story. Now that I'm done with the story I'm going to take my time to go through each of my current stories and fix all typing problems. It really must be done.

Syaoran: So does that mean…no plugs?

Raiden: Say it isn't so!

VictorianPearl: Of course I have a plug, there has been a story I've been writing (sort of). I've written down a lot of this next story already, but not chronologically, mind you. I have to search through all of my notebooks and documents from the past semester and put the story together. I'm not going to start posting right away because I want to do this fiction right the first time and not have to go back and re-edit later. I also hope there won't be large gaps of time between updates in this next fiction either.

Li: Hmm, that sounds kind of familiar.

Sakura: A little like what you said about this fiction.

VictorianPearl: Oh well, it can't be helped. The next fiction I will be writing is going to be titled Eternal Flame.

Syaoran: Starring yours truly!

VictorianPearl: Actually, this one is going to be based around Tomoyo and Eriol, but mostly Tomoyo.

Syaoran: What?!

Eriol: Well this is certainly exciting.

Tomoyo: Should I be nervous?

VictorianPearl: Of course you should be! Don't worry too much though. Eternal Flame is going to be a drama/romance/mystery story. It will not be AU and will take place while our gang is in high school.

Meiling: High school, the good ol' days.

Raiden: Err, will I be appearing in this fiction?

VictorianPearl: I don't know, you'll just have to wait and see.

Sakura: I sure had a lot of fun in this fiction. Too bad it's over already.

Kero: Sakura!

VictorianPearl: Until Eternal Flame then.

Li: Ja ne.


End file.
